On the Edge

Hearing Gladly

2011-07-24T08:54:00.002-04:00

The son of Herod the Great, Herod Antipas provides a very important lesson for us about hearing and responding to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Herod Antipas was the ruler over Galilee during the time of Jesus and John the Baptist. Like most of the Roman rulers during that time, he was ruthless and without conscience, but he also showed an unusual interest in spiritual matters. Mark 6 tells us the story of how he arrested John the Baptist, but frequently listened to his preaching. In fact, in verse 20, the ESV says that Herod heard him gladly.

In other words, Herod enjoyed listening to John talk about spiritual matters including eternal life and the power of God. But he is the ultimate example of someone who listens and even enjoys hearing about the Gospel, and yet goes on to commit unspeakable evil. It was Herod who became so controlled by his lust for his stepdaughter that he made a promise to give her anything, up to half of his kingdom. It was the same Herod who enjoyed listening to John that ordered his beheading.

Clearly the enjoyment of listening to the Gospel is no sign of salvation or even impending salvation. It can be experienced by those who continue to pursue a self-centered life and even a life of ongoing evil. Each person who hears and enjoys the Gospel must come to a point when they must either reject or accept its message. That involves coming to a full understanding of the message of the Gospel. The Gospel offers salvation and eternal life to any and all who hear it, if only they place their faith in the the Lord Jesus Christ. But today, many confuse belief that Jesus is God with the idea of placing their faith in Christ. Faith requires reliance...dependence. It is possible to believe something without really becoming dependent upon it. Godly faith requires reliance and dependence upon God to the point that our lives reflect change that is recognizable by those who know us well. It is tragic that while Herod enjoyed listening to John, he never made that step of faith.

God's Loincloth

2011-07-17T08:19:00.003-04:00

Our God loves to use graphic illustrations of His relationship to us and in the case of the Old Testament, to illustrate how the people of Israel have sinned against Him. Jeremiah 13 contains one of those illustrations and yet has profound implications for our relationship to God today. The chapter begins with God telling Jeremiah to go and buy a brand new linen loincloth. Jeremiah is told not to put the loincloth into water but instead is to wear it. Then, after a period of time, God tells Jeremiah to take the loincloth and hide it underground near a river. In verse 6, Jeremiah recalls that after many days, the LORD told him to retrieve the loincloth from it's hiding place. Of course, by that time, the new loincloth is ruined and not good for anything. The purpose of this charade is to illustrate how the sins of Israel and Judah have ruined those nations and just like the loincloth, they are no longer good for anything.

But in verse 11, we are told something so profound and potentially life changing, we must be careful not to miss it. God tells Jeremiah that He had made Israel to cling to Him, just as the loincloth clings to a man. What is astounding is the article of clothing that God has chosen to illustrate man's relationship to Him. God could have chosen another piece of clothing such as the outer robe which is so critical in keeping people warm at night, protecting them from the cold. But God purposely chose the loincloth, the most intimate article of clothing we wear. It is the equivalent of our underwear. It is the article of clothing that covers the most intimate part of our body. God tells Jeremiah that He made Israel to cling to Him like a loincloth!

What is God telling us through this illustration? I believe He is letting us know just how intimate a relationship He desires to have with us. He chose the MOST intimate piece of clothing to describe how He made Israel and Judah to be to Him. In the New Testament, He uses the most intimate human relationship to describe how He wants to relate to us by telling us that we are the bride of Christ. There is no more intimate relationship than husband and wife.

I know that I have very little idea of just how intimate God wants to be with me, but I suspect that it is far more intimate than anything I could imagine. He is waiting for me to respond to that invitation...He is waiting for all of us to respond to that invitation...

Small steps

2011-07-10T09:24:00.002-04:00

A frequent theme in the teachings of Jesus is for us to follow Him. In Mt. 4:19, Jesus tells Peter and Andrew to come follow Him, and He will make them fishers of men. Then, 4 chapters later in Mt. 8:22, he tells the disciples to "...follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead." I used to think that whenever we made the decision to follow Jesus, it would consist of huge steps in directions I had never been. This is always scary and I'm sure holds many of us back from taking that step. Occasionally, God may be calling us to take a big step in an unknown direction, but in my life, the steps to follow Jesus have been small ones that slowly lead me in a slightly different direction than where I had been headed. For a time, the path following Jesus has almost been parallel to the way I had been going, but slowly, almost imperceptibly, it begins to turn in a different direction. Then, as I have walked along that path, I have come to streams, creeks, and rivers that require a larger step of faith to be made. But for me, the initial steps were small. It is only after looking back over 5-10 years that I notice how far off the original path I have come.

Obedience is certainly found in taking the large steps of faith that God requires of us. But, most of the time, obedience is found in taking the small everyday steps that consist simply of taking time to be with Him, and avoiding that which we know He doesn't want us to do. Small steps of using our time, talent and treasure for His glory. Small steps of taking the time to listen to His Spirit within us leading us in the small decisions of the day. After all, if we are going to run a marathon, it is not accomplished with one large step, but with many small ones.

Today's Church

2011-04-03T09:26:00.004-04:00

What would Jesus say about today's church? In my work on human trafficking, I was giving a presentation the other day and someone asked me how the church was responding to the issue of human trafficking. I had to stop and think for a minute and then gave an answer that basically said that the church response is mixed. There is definite interest in the issue, but when it comes to translating that interest into action, that's where the response is mixed. I've actually seen much more interest in action from individual church members than from church leadership. There have been a few churches that have asked me to come and speak...and then they have been supportive from that time forward. But they are the exception, not the rule.

As a result of this question, I decided to look back at the letters Jesus wrote to the 7 churches in Revelation, and study again his criticisms of the churches he wrote. The first letter was to the church of Ephesus in which Jesus pointed out that they had lost their first love. Presumably, He meant that they had lost their love for Him. But what is interesting is what Jesus tells them to do in order to restore that love. He didn't tell them to seek Him, or enhance their emotions in some way. Jesus told the church of Ephesus to resume the works that they did at first. In other words, Jesus correlated love with works. It certainly fits well with the first Epistle of John where in several different ways, the Apostle John tells us that true love is expressed in action.

Christians can talk about how they care about various issues and concerns, but unless those words are followed up with some form of action, in the eyes of the Lord, they are meaningless. It is my hope and prayer that with each passing day, the church as a whole will take increasingly more action around the issue of human trafficking following the example of the one church taking the lead on the issue...the Salvation Army.

Job 42- Seeing God

2011-03-13T14:08:00.003-04:00

When I think of the life of Job, my usual thoughts are along the lines of His faithfulness to God before all the bad things happened, or the horrible tragedies that struck him through the actions of Satan. But what I don't often remember is the reaction he had upon seeing God. In fact, I often forget that he saw God. But we learn in chapter 42 of his account that Job actually saw God, or at least some form of God. His reaction is instructive. Prior to seeing God and hearing His voice, Job had been challenging God to give an account of what had happened to him. Job's attitude had been that he had lived a righteous life (which in comparison to most of us today would be true), and therefore God had no right to cause the many tragedies that fell upon Job.

But in Job 42:5,6 Job states... "I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore, I despise myself and repent is dust and ashes." Job went from self-righteousness and pride to despising himself... all after encountering God.

I think it's safe to say that would be the response of all of us if we were to have an encounter with God. Deep within all of us is a level of self-righteousness and pride that allows us to go forward in our lives and do what we do. But should we have an encounter with God, we would see true holiness and righteousness, and the depth of our sin would be exposed. We would have no choice but to despise ourselves in comparison.

While we can't orchestrate a face to face encounter with God, we can still encounter Him through His word. I have to admit that the result of a solid time within the Scripture is always a level of humbleness, that while temporary, adjusts my view upward rather than inward.

Outward vs. Inward

2011-03-06T08:28:00.003-05:00

I was reading through 2 Corinthians Chapter 5 this morning and a verse caught my attention just beyond the one that usually causes me pause. The verse that always gives me pause is of course the well known verse found in 2 Cor. 5:10 which refers to the judgment seat of Christ. It is a reminder for all believers that we will give an account to Him who has saved us for everything we have done, whether good or bad.

But the verse that also caught my attention this morning is found in 2 Cor. 5:12 where Paul writes about those who "...boast about outward appearance, and not what is in the heart." I started to wonder how someone would boast to the Lord about outward appearance. I thought back to Luke 18:9-14 where Jesus talks about the Pharisee and the tax collector each praying to God. The Pharisee is thankful that he is not a sinner and talks about what he has done for God. But the tax collector doesn't even try that approach. He simply begs for God's mercy. Of course, Jesus condemns that Pharisee and encourages the approach of the tax collector.

But then my next thought is how we today mimic the Pharisee rather than the tax collector? Whenever we become proud of something we do for God, or for that matter, something we don't do because of God, we are focusing on outward things rather than the condition of our heart. The Lord knows how my heart can vacillate between the things of this world, and devotion to Him. The problem is...when I'm focused on what I've accomplished for Him, or what sinful activity I've avoided for Him, I'm not necessarily getting to the level of the heart. When we have the heart right, the outward activities follow. But we can be deceived into thinking that when the outward activities are right, the heart will naturally follow...and that isn't so.

Paul is pointing out that true self evaluation must occur at the level of the heart by asking the question..."What is my heart seeking?" Is it to look good on the outside from all my activities, or is my heart truly seeking the Lord?

Job- Misunderstanding tragedy

2011-02-20T13:54:00.002-05:00

I've often struggled to understand the book of Job. It is a long book...almost too long...and the vast majority is frankly depressing. I don't need to go over the story because most know the story, but I'm certain that I'm not alone in my questioning of the purpose of Job. I'm currently reading through the book for the umpteenth time...and finally it's occurred to me that perhaps one purpose of the book is to illustrate a common mistake that we all make on a regular basis.

It all revolves around the particular piece of information that every reader has about Job that he doesn't possess. That little tidbit of information is that the direct cause of his woes is not God, but rather Satan. We as the reader know that, but Job doesn't, and it makes all the difference in how he responds. Without that critical awareness, Job is angry at God and naturally blames him for all that he is currently suffering. If only Job knew what the reader knows...we can only imagine how different his response would be...and his ability to trust in God would be strengthened.

The lesson for us is that when tragedy strikes our lives as it inevitably will, there is a difference between God causing an event, and God allowing it. God allows tragedy to strike Job by giving permission to Satan to do as he desires. Now, not all tragedy that occurs in our life is a direct result of the actions of Satan. However, we can all too commonly forget that the tragedy that strikes us is also not the direct action of the God who loves us. Yes, there is no tragedy that can strike us without the sovereign Lord of the universe allowing it, but there is a big difference between God allowing something, and God causing it.

God allows tragedy in our lives in order that we grow, depend on Him more, and many times for reasons that we will never know or understand in this life. As difficult as it may be in the midst of tragedy, we need to work hard at avoiding Job's mistake...blaming God as the direct cause of the tragedy rather than understanding that though He allowed it, that doesn't mean that He wanted it to occur. Maybe, just maybe, if we allow Him, he can turn the tragedy into something of eternal impact and worth.

Judging others

2011-01-30T09:20:00.002-05:00

What does it mean to judge someone else?

There are several Scriptural references that prohibit judging, including Romans chapter 2 and James chapter 4. But the confusing thing is that there are also Scriptural commands to confront and rebuke others when needed. Examples are Luke 17:3, 1 Tim. 5:20, and Titus 2:15. The question I'm wrestling with is how do we rebuke without first judging?

Clearly there must be a difference between the discernment and pronouncement of sin in another, and the wrongful action of judging as prohibited in Scripture. But Scripture itself does not elaborate on the distinction. We must seek it out ourselves before we approach someone else to rebuke them for their sin. Here are some principles that I've come up with to this point:

1. The decision to rebuke another for sin should be motivated by a call from God, not a self-centered desire for revenge.

2. The motivation for rebuke should lie in what is best for the one being rebuked, rather than what feels good for the one doing the rebuking.

3. The one giving the rebuke should be very aware of his/her own sinful nature.

4. The rebuke should be administered in love

5. The sin should be self-evident and not debatable.

Thinking through these principles, I realize that the sin of judging lies not so much in action as in attitude because the wrong attitude will bring about the wrong kind of action.

The purpose of the Church

2011-01-16T17:40:00.005-05:00

I've been reflecting a great deal lately on the issue of the purpose of the local church. Looking at Scripture in order to find a mission statement for a local church, the closest reference I'm drawn to is found in Ephesians 4:11-13 where Paul gives the mission statement of a pastor/teacher. In verses 12 & 13 he writes that the pastor/teacher is "... to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the fullness of the stature of Christ."

In short, the pastor/teacher is to equip the saints so that they in turn build up the body of Christ. There is an overall goal and purpose that each local church should have, and that is grow in maturity of the members so that they in turn are involved in some ministry that builds up the body of Christ.

That's a different mission than building and organizing the church around the comforts and needs of the congregation. If a church is not constantly looking outward and involved in ministry outside the walls of the church building, it automatically begins to become ingrown. I'm convinced that the natural tendency of all churches is in this direction, seeking to meet the needs and wants of those who complain the loudest. It must be resisted by those in leadership so that the words of Paul can be fulfilled.

Those who are the chronic complainers need to be moved to greater maturity and a servant attitude, and I believe the best way to do that is through service to others. While the words from the pulpit are important, they are often not enough. There is nothing quite as humbling as helping those who are in great need, living in circumstances beyond their control. This is simply known as outreach, and a church without significant personal outreach is a church becoming ingrown.

There is nothing quite like experiencing and understanding the reality of...there but by the Grace of God go I...to help move us along in our maturing process.

Principle 4- It is about God's plan

2011-01-09T08:38:00.005-05:00

As I write this, fresh snow has fallen, covering all important landmarks that tell us things like the location of our driveway, the roads, and more important, just where the ditch begins at the entrance of our driveway. Carefully placed stakes that rise up out of the snow would be helpful on mornings like this. These principles are like those stakes...rising up out of the clutter, noise and distraction of the world to help us believers know when we're on the road, and when we're about to go into the ditch.

Principle 4 for me is the positive affirmation of just what God is trying to accomplish in this world. If His overall goal is not our happiness, then just what is His goal? His goal is revealed to us in the life of Jesus. God the Father sent His Son Jesus into the world to pay the penalty for our sins so that we may spend eternity with Him. Jesus Himself summarizes this in John 12:47 when He says, "... for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world."

Jesus completed His part, but left some of the work to us. That's why we have the Great Commission in Matthew 28 and why the work still continues today. God is still in the process of saving the world, one soul at a time. He has given us the honor to participate in this grand adventure, which is His overall goal.

Principle 4 is simply that our lives must in some way reflect the fact that we are participating in God's grand adventure to bring those lost souls around us from darkness into light. If we're not in some way involved in that, we've gone off the road and not really living the Christian life.

Principle 3- It's not about our happiness...

2010-12-26T10:05:00.005-05:00

We live in a world that is constantly bombarding us with the message that our lives should be focused on our own happiness and pleasure. This message streams from every commercial we are exposed to...in an effort to induce us to buy whatever product is being featured. We are all impacted by that message, no matter how hard we try to ignore it. For us as Christians, we may seek to avoid overt materialism, or we may unwittingly fall prey to it. But even if we are somewhat successful is putting off materialism, we still subtly begin to get the idea that God's plan should revolve around us and our happiness. As we seek to work out God's will for our lives, we usually begin with the assumption that God wants us happy, healthy and successful. It's not that God doesn't want those things for us, rather, it's just not His number one priority. This means that there may be seasons of our life during which blessings pour forth, but we may also experience seasons of difficulties and trials.

During those trials, it is critical to reflect on what God's priorities are for us. James gives us a clue when he tells us to "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." The good news is that God's priority for us is faith in Him that produces spiritual perfection and completeness. The bad news is...it takes trials and tribulation to achieve those things.

Principle 3 recognizes that God's priority for us is spiritual growth and maturity, not our happiness and pleasure. Therefore, if we are Christians who truly desire to grow spiritually, we must be Christians who are ready to face difficulties in order to grow our faith. When we face those difficulties with the knowledge that spiritual growth will result, not only do the difficulties make sense, but we can more easily move toward counting it all joy!

Principle 2- Heaven is our true home

2010-12-12T12:21:00.002-05:00

Building from the first principle laid out in my last post, if we are to live in this world as exiles, it brings up the natural question of where is our true home. Therefore, principle #2 is that heaven is our true home.

It is one thing to agree with that statement, but a completely different matter to actually live your life that way. A life lived with the knowledge and belief that heaven is our true home is a life dominated by an eternal perspective. In other words, it is a life that is constantly weighing priorities on the basis of what will matter in the light of eternity versus what is important now and in the moment.

It is a life that will have several characteristics including caring less about what other people think and more about what God thinks. It is a life that values relationships and the soul condition of those around us rather than our own image in the world. The life that is lived with an eternal perspective cares less about the accumulation of things and more about meeting the needs of others. It is a life that is open to sacrifice for others and less about self preservation than about truly following God's will for our lives.

Frankly, the life lived with an eternal perspective should be puzzling for those living only for this world. It should not make sense...it should be radical and easily misunderstood. It should stand out and draw questions rather than blend in with the everyday lives of those living only for themselves.

It will be a life that bears eternal fruit. That is, at it's end, the person will be able to look back and see in small ways, lives that they have touched and changed, souls that have been won to the Lord, and disciples that have grown under their influence. The only thing that will last eternally is our works that have impacted another soul, by helping them in their time of need, by leading them to Christ, or by helping them grow closer to their Lord. That's it! Gold, money or treasure will not pass into eternity. Cars, houses, yards, boats, gadgets and all other possessions will all disappear one day. They will not pass into eternity. Only people will pass into eternity, and yes, probably animals as well.

The life lived with the view of heaven as our true home, will be a life focused on helping the lives of those around us, sacrificially, spiritually, and always with God's help.

Principles for Today's Christians- Living as an exile

2010-12-05T09:01:00.004-05:00

I've been a follower of Jesus Christ for over 35 years, and during that time, I've spent a great deal of time thinking through what it means to be a Christian and walk with the Lord in today's world. Just recently, I've been thinking about condensing those thoughts down to a set of principles that come out of the Bible...principles that are thus Biblical and should be remembered by every believer if they truly want to follow the Lord in this life.

These principles are grounded first of all in the belief that God exists and has revealed Himself to the form of the Trinity, i.e. the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This revelation has been through not only creation, but more specifically the Bible, which I believe to be inspired (literally God breathed) and thus inerrant. These principles pre-suppose that those who would follow them have true faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior, and have submitted their lives to Him, seeking to live the life that God has prepared for them.

With this background, the first principle that I must daily remind myself of is that this world is not my home. It requires daily remembrance because I am created in such a way that where I am, I want to make my home. It is a natural response within me that where I am currently existing should be my home. But Scripture in many places reminds us that the world around us is different than when it was created, thus it is fallen and should no longer be the desire of my heart. Probably one of the best Scripture references is 1 John 2:15-17 where John writes do not love the world or the things in the world.

Thus true Christians must abide in this world not as natural citizens of the world, but rather as living in exile and many have put it. This naturally brings up the question of what it means to live in exile as opposed to living as a citizen. A citizen has an ultimate focus of improving their life in this world, while an exile lives with a focus beyond this world. The success or failure of a citizen's life is based solely on success and failure within this world, while the exile it looking for success in the eyes of the One who made this world. Two very different things, and thus two very different lives.

Leaving everything and following Him...

2010-11-21T09:42:00.002-05:00

In Luke 5, we receive a more full account of the call of James, John and Peter. Unlike what has often been portrayed out of Matthew Chapter 4 as an isolated call of Jesus and immediate response by the disciples, there is background to that call which is given more fully in the accounts of Luke and John. But to me, the issue is that they were once employed in a honest hardworking profession, and were called from that position to something very different. We are told they left everything!

We know from the book of Acts and other extra-Biblical accounts that except for a short period of time after the death of Jesus, they did in fact leave their profession of fishing and devoted themselves completely to following Jesus and His ministry. In fact, both Peter and James were killed as a result of their ministry, and John was imprisoned for a period of time on the island of Patmos. In other words....they suffered greatly! The concept of following Jesus and suffering for Him is not often talked about is Western Christianity. In fact, usually the opposite is proposed. Follow Jesus and you will be blessed! While this is certainly true, as the life of Paul makes clear, these blessings are usually non-material and eternal. Here in the West, we have assumed the blessings are material and present today.

We need to return to that thinking. We need to remember that our life in this world is fleeting and temporary. We need to remember that what truly matters is how we impact eternity by bearing eternal fruit in the form of new disciples who are themselves getting ready to follow Jesus. We need to take our eyes off of the present distractions of our materialistic world, and keep them focused on Jesus...who for our sake, endured the pain and suffering of the cross.

God's Glory

2010-11-14T08:59:00.004-05:00

I've been thinking a lot lately about God's glory. I head up a Christian non profit and it's mission is to help young girls who have been exploited. As a non profit, we are always in the process of raising funds and dependent on donors to be able to do our work. The issue of God's glory comes up because I want to raise funds in such a way that whatever success we achieve, brings God glory. The problem is, there are many secular non profits with profound success in raising money for causes that have nothing to do with God. It raises all kinds of questions, such as... does God bless the work of a non profit even if they are secular simply because they are working to help the poor? Does God desire a Christian non profit to raise funds in a certain way so that it is clear He is behind the success in fundraising? If so, what would that certain way look like? These are questions for which I do not yet have answers. However, it has caused me to look into the Scriptures to learn more about God's glory.

First of all, the Bible tells us clearly that God deserves glory. One of the better known verses is 1 Chronicles 16:29- "Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name...". We are to give the glory to God that He deserves. In fact, 1 Chronicles 29:11 tells us that ALL glory ultimately belongs to the Lord. "Yours, O LORD is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours." Psalm 8:1 tells us that God set His glory above the heavens, while Psalms 19:1 reminds us that the heavens declare the glory of God. Psalm 24 talks about the King of Glory, and in Isaiah 6:3 the cherubim are crying out that the whole earth is filled with His glory. Finally, Isaiah 40:5 reminds us that everyone...everyone will eventually see the glory of the LORD.

What concerns me is that God is also jealous for His glory. Isaiah 48:11 tells us "...my glory I will not give to another." Yet Paul tells us in Romans 2:10 that everyone who does good will receive glory.

My conclusion at this point is that God is in charge of His glory. He has put everything in place within creation to bring Him glory. He has created us for His glory. He created the angels for His glory. The whole earth is full of His glory. His glory is evident all around us. Therefore, He is in charge of His glory, not us. In addition, He has chosen to share His glory with us if we are obedient to Him and following His path. In other words, He is responsible for how His glory is manifested and revealed, and we are responsible for being obedient to Him. Part of that obedience is that we should also be careful that we ascribe to the Lord the glory He deserves. I do believe that extends to fundraising. Perhaps it's as easy as pursuing the fundraising techniques that He has chosen to bless, and then making sure that we ascribe to Him the glory and honor He deserves by establishing that blessing.

How Great a Salvation- Hebrews 2

2010-11-07T08:46:00.003-05:00

Have you ever wondered why there is such a difference between the way God portrays Himself in the Old Testament and the New Testament? After all, there is a clear difference, and you don't have to go very far to find examples of it. Take for example Hosea chapter 13. Written around the time of the Assyrian capture of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and Samaria in 723 BC, the words of the LORD are instructive. In verses 7 and following, God compares Himself to a lion that will devour Israel because of their unfaithfulness. He says things like "...I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs...I will tear open their breast..." in verse 8. As if that is not enough, in verse 16 God says "...Samaria shall bear her guilt because she has rebelled against her God; they shall fall by their sword; their little ones will be dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open." It's hard to imagine a more graphic description of rage expressed against a group of people. It's even more meaningful when we realize that these events actually occurred against the people of Israel.

A clue for me is when the writer of Hebrews asks in chapter 2, verse 3 how we will escape if we ignore such a great salvation. After all, if God really isn't angry with our sin, than our salvation from sin is little more than a quick little reprieve that says "OK...just don't do it again". Our salvation through Jesus Christ truly is a GREAT salvation because God is truly angry at us because of our sin. The anger and wrath He expresses in the Old Testament illustrates this vividly for us.

While our God is a loving God, He is also a jealous God. He wants and deserves our worship and obedience. He also knows that the only way He could close the chasm between us and Him was in sending His son to die as the sacrifice for our sins. The penalty for sin had to be paid to show how horrific it is. We could never pay the price, only He could. When you stop and think about it, this salvation provided for us is truly great and should never be ignored.

The Future

2010-10-24T12:38:00.002-04:00

During my devotions this morning, I was reading in Daniel Chapter 9, which of course is the chapter that contains the famous seventy sevens or weeks passage. It got me thinking about future events. Dispensationalists believe this chapter lays out the time-line for future events beginning during the time of Daniel. They also believe that there is one remaining 'seven' which has yet to be fulfilled which will be a period of seven years just prior to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Of course there is much debate around this issue and many different opinions as to what events will occur and in what order. The only thing that is clear about this whole debate is the reason for it...the Scriptures that deal with future events are particularly unclear. They are unclear for a reason...God doesn't want us to know too much about the specifics of the future.

But there are things of which we can be certain. First of all, Jesus is returning again. When He does return, it will be in a completely different capacity than during His first coming. He was disguised in His first coming as a lowly carpenter hailing from a city of little regard...Nazareth. But His Second Coming will leave no doubt in anyone's mind who He really is. It's manner will be such that every person alive on the earth will know immediately they are witnessing the appearance of God.

Another thing we know for sure is that once the Lord Jesus returns, things on the earth will be very different from that point on. His Kingdom will be established in a very real and evident way. Only those who submit to Christ will be allowed to remain in this Kingdom, while those who have rebelled and continue to rebel will cast into a different place so that Christ's reign and control of the earth will be complete.

This new Kingdom is what Christians today should be focused on...our hope is in Christ alone, and He will accomplish His will. The earth will be cleansed from evil, and everlasting peace and joy in the presence of the Lord will be ours. With this in mind, I'm always puzzled at the degree of acrimonious debate that goes on today about the little details of the future. Far better that we simply agree to disagree over the minors, and focus our hope and joy on the majors!

The Unnamed Prophet

2010-10-10T08:34:00.004-04:00

There are stories within the Old Testament that when you read them, you're left with a series of questions. What does this mean? Why did it turn out this way? What is God trying to tell us? Chapter 13 of 1 Kings contains one of those stories. It is the story of an unnamed prophet to prophesies against the altar of Jeroboam located at Bethel. Not only do we not know his name, but know very little about him other than what is found in this chapter. He is told by God to come and prophesy against this altar, and then leave immediately by a different route without eating or drinking anything while in Bethel. As we read this episode, we learn that another prophet lies to the original prophet and draws him back to eat and drink in Bethel, and thus the first prophet is killed by a lion on his way home. A very strange story...but the other question that must be addressed is why does God include this unique story within the Scriptures? He has a purpose, and it is up to us to look further into this.
I'm struck by several observations. First of all, the lion that attacked the original prophet didn't eat him, nor did he run away. In fact, he stayed by the body until the second prophet came to take it, not attacking anything or anyone else. In other words, this was not a random lion attack. Second, the prior instructions to the prophet were very clear, and had he obeyed them, the lion attack would not have happened. Third, the penalty for disobedience falls completely on to the original prophet because the prophet who lied and tricked the first prophet to return to Bethel was not given any obvious punishment. My natural tendency in reading this is to feel sorry for the first prophet who is betrayed by the prophet from Bethel who lied and said that the Lord had told him to bring the prophet back to Bethel. The first prophet's disobedience to the original command occurred because he thought he had new instructions from the Lord, not out of willful disobedience. Yet he suffered the ultimate penalty for disobedience...death, while the prophet who lied and deceived received no penalty. Thus my first reaction...this is unjust. But God is not unjust. He is holy and righteous. So why did this happen this way? My thoughts...God had spoken directly to the original prophet and had given him clear instructions. His mistake was in accepting second hand instructions that were contrary to the original first hand instructions. He should have maintained his obedience to the original first hand instructions until he received contrary instructions...again first hand. We can fall into the same trap today, though thankfully we usually don't have to worry about being killed by a lion. Those who are walking close to the Lord often get a sense of a calling from Him to a certain type of ministry. It is clear, and it is first hand, i.e. something we sense directly from God. But as we share that calling with others, we may be told that the calling makes no sense, that God would never call us to something like that, or that we're making a huge mistake by following that calling. We may even get advice along the lines that a person feels from common sense that God has instead made us for a different calling. All too often, we forget the original call, and follow the advice of the many "prophets" around us, living and pursuing a calling that is different than what God had planned. What a loss and how tragic that truly is. Let us recall to mind and hold tight to any direct call from the Lord, and pursue that no matter what the prophets around us may say...

The importance of suffering

2010-09-12T08:28:00.004-04:00

Living in the United States, I find that there are two related characteristics of our culture here that work against us as Christians drawing close to the Lord. The first is our rampant materialism, and the second is our resulting self-sufficiency. It is expected of everyone living in the U.S., including Christians, that we will work to be self-sufficient. As Christians then, how do we learn to rely on the Lord? This was brought home to me again by a recent trip to Calcutta India, (now called Kolkata), and my ingrained need, (and at times demand), for comfort. We simply do not know how spoiled we are until we go to another culture where comfort is not so accessible. Here in the U.S., I know that most of us seek to avoid suffering, but that keeps us from experiencing what Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians chapter 1. While Paul doesn't go into detail about what his sufferings were, we can tell that they were significant, because in verse 9, he tells us that they were beginning to think they were going to die. But Paul goes on to give us the jewel in this section when he points out that the purpose God had for the suffering they experienced was to make them rely more on God and less on themselves. That's a lessen we all need desperately here in the U.S. Yes, I know there is suffering of many different types here in the U.S., but we're not surrounded by it like so many places in the world. Our suffering is isolated and insulated, so that we're less often taught that we need to rely more on God. While Paul saw suffering as a necessary tool to draw him closer to God, I'm all too quick to see it as a punishment from God. It requires a paradigm shift in how we look at suffering...one from looking at suffering in completely negative terms, to seeing it as having the ability to teach us things that can't be learned any other way. It's a slow process, and one in which I have a long way to go.

Muscle Building

2010-09-05T10:09:00.002-04:00

We live in a busy world, occupied with all kinds of activities that drain our strength from us. Add to that the inevitable bad things that happen, and we will have episodes when we are left without strength and hope. David had that happen, and his response is instructive to us. In 1 Samuel 30, while David is off getting ready for battle, the town in which he and his men were living at the time was attacked by his enemies. All of their belongings including their wives and children were taken from them. Clearly, this was a low point for David since verse 6 tells us that he was "greatly distressed". There were several options before David at that point. He could have lost all hope and lived in defeat from that point on, or he could have pursued his enemies filled with anger and rage, risking defeat. David however made a different choice. The second part of verse 6 tells us that he strengthened himself in the Lord his God. We aren't told exactly how he did that, but we can assume that it involved spending time in prayer, and perhaps even praise to God. No doubt he also spent time reviewing in his mind the stories contained in the writings of Moses. In essence, David took his struggles and loss to the Lord, and found strength. I've noticed that as I have times during which I'm in need of strength, I will often go to things other than the Lord such as a good book, or a popular movie or TV program. Yes, it might take my mind off of things, but true strengthening is lacking. I get finished with that activity and I'm still in need of strength. I'm slowly learning that during those times, I'm far better off if I spend time in prayer and reading of the Word. True strength comes only from the Lord. Another instructive lesson from David is that when he had found new strength, he sought the Lord's direction as to his next step. He didn't arise in that strength and pursue his own agenda. He asked the Lord if he should pursue his enemies. The Lord gave him direction and David was able to recover his lost wives and children. In similar fashion, as we gain our strength from the Lord, we should be careful how we use that strength by seeking His will and direction for our lives.

Gospel Amnesia

2010-08-22T08:21:00.004-04:00

I've been a believer for over 36 years, but I still struggle to apply the Gospel (or Good News) of Jesus Christ to my life in certain ways. An example of this are the pangs of guilt I feel when I read certain passages. On the one hand, I recognize as Paul reminds us in Romans 3:23 that I have sinned along with the rest of humanity. I further recognize as Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:8,9 that I have been saved by grace. Yet, in the strange contortions of my mind, I still expect myself to somehow earn salvation by works through achieving a certain level of righteousness. It is not at a conscious level that I do this, but rather subconscious. The result is that when I read a passage like Romans 12:1 which states that we should present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, I am assaulted with guilt knowing that I am incapable of doing that. My thinking has shifted away from having my righteousness depend on what the Lord has done for me to having my righteousness depend upon my own performance. I have developed Gospel amnesia. What I am learning to do now, still imperfectly, is to preach the Gospel to myself on a daily basis so that I instead can read passages like Romans 12 and realize that all that is required of me is the presentation of my body to God as a living sacrifice, and He is the One who makes it holy and acceptable. The Gospel really is Good News in that Jesus came to make us righteous and holy, and He does so as we place our faith in Him, and not on the basis of our performance. There is nothing we need to do to make that happen, nor is there anything we can do to make that happen. It is His free gift to us, accomplished through His death, burial, and resurrection. It is thankfulness that I should be feeling...not guilt!

False Prophets

2010-08-01T08:53:00.003-04:00

In Jeremiah 28, there is an interesting story about a false prophet named Hananiah. Hananiah is prophesying peace for the nation of Judah while Jeremiah is predicting more war, famine, and defeat by the Babylonians. Hananiah is telling the people what they want to hear, while Jeremiah is doing just the opposite. Naturally, Hananiah is the most popular. In fact, if you read the book of Jeremiah, you soon discover that he was not well liked at all, and there were even several attempts on his life. However, the bottom line is that Jeremiah was right, and Hananiah was wrong. It's a historical illustration of being popular and official, acting as if you are speaking the words of God, but in the end, totally wrong. Who looking back would want to be Hananiah rather than Jeremiah? No one. Yet, during their life, most would choose the popularity and message of Hananiah. The story brings out the fact that it is more important to be right than to be popular. Yet, I can't help but think that Hananiah was convinced that he was right as he was speaking peace and prosperity. It's also an illustration of how we can fool ourselves as to what is right. We can be absolutely convinced we are speaking truth, yet in the end be dead wrong...literally. In verses 7-9, Jeremiah gives us a clue to help us find our way. In verse 6, Jeremiah responds to the words of Hananiah by stating that he hopes they come true. My personal belief is that he meant those words. But he goes on to point out that the words of previous prophets agree with Jeremiah, not with Hananiah. Therefore, the burden of proof is upon Hananiah. There are those today who still preach a message of peace and prosperity. Naturally, they are very popular. But the real question is...are they right? Only by looking at the whole of Scripture can we see that God often uses difficulties in various forms to bring us to the place where we are fully dependent upon Him.

Gideon

2010-07-25T09:03:00.000-04:00

If someone knows something about Gideon, it usually has to do with the episode with the fleece. However, I've found myself thinking about the characteristics of the man, since there are a few clues about that in Scripture. The most profound clue is found in Judges 8:18 where Gideon has an interesting conversation with 2 kings he has just captured. He asks them about the young men they had killed in the town of Tabor. Their response was "As you are, so were they. Every one of them resembled the son of a king". Gideon then tells them they were his brothers. This naturally brings up a whole series of questions such as what does it mean to have the bearing of a king? How is it that an entire family of sons has that bearing? Why do some have it and others don't? These are all questions that are not answered by the story of Gideon, nor can I answer them. In fact, the story of Gideon even confuses the picture. For instance, you might start out by answering that a man is able to raise a whole family of sons with the bearing of a king by being faithful to the LORD. But we learn in Judges 6 that his father has an altar to Baal! But here are some thoughts regarding this issue. First of all, I believe we can conclude that this regal bearing had something to do with the original call of Gideon, and preceded the call. We see this in the words of the angel when he calls Gideon a "Mighty man of valor". I don't believe that Gideon was a wimp, and then suddenly became a mighty man when the Spirit of the Lord came on him. Secondly, even as a mighty man of valor, he was cautious as shown by the fact that he destroyed his fathers altar to Baal during the night, and by his episode with the fleece. So Gideon was not brash and impulsive. Thirdly, Gideon had the ability to be humble. This is so clearly seen in the episode with the men of Ephraim as recorded in Judges 8:1-3. Gideon assuages their anger basically by being humble and telling them how little he is in comparison to them. My impression is that he is speaking what he truly feels, not using words to protect himself. Fourthly, and most importantly, once convinced of what God wanted him to do, Gideon was a man of action. He didn't procrastinate or rationalize...he moved forward and completed the task. He did it swiftly, completely, and with courage. While it's clear that Gideon made mistakes in his life as with the episode with the ephod, it's also clear that he modeled characteristics that men of today would do well to seek after.

God's Loincloth

2010-07-18T12:12:00.003-04:00

If you've read much in the Old Testament, you know that God loves word pictures. He created those word pictures often by telling His prophets to do some very unusual things. Jeremiah chapter 13 is an excellent example, but the message that God is trying to portray is really amazing. In verse one, God tells Jeremiah to buy a new loincloth and wear it. Now basically, without getting into a lot of unnecessary detail, a loincloth is a piece of clothing covering the most intimate part of the human body. God gives specific instructions to Jeremiah. After wearing the loincloth, he is told to place it in the cleft of a rock near the Euphrates River and leave it there. Within a short period of time, after being exposed to the weather, the cloth is ruined. Here's where the fascinating part comes in. The message that God wants to give Israel is that originally, God looked at Israel as His loincloth, but it has now become ruined because of their sin and disobedience. What an amazing description of His relationship to Israel! God chooses the word picture of the loincloth! Here's what God says in verse 11: "For as the loincloth clings to the waste of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the LORD, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen." What strikes me is the ultimate degree of intimacy this description portrays. God could have chosen all kinds of clothing in this word picture. Shirt, hat, pants, shoes, coat, tunic...the list goes on. But what did God choose? The loincloth...the most intimate form of clothing that a human at that time could wear. Why? I strongly believe that God is once again illustrating for us just how intimate He desires our relationship with Him to be. He doesn't simply want acknowledgment from us...He doesn't just want casual relationship from us...He wants to have the most intimate relationship possible with us...far more intimate than we could ever imagine. As I think this through, I'm humbled and embarrassed by the different ways I push Him away or seek to avoid the relationship He would like to have with me. How can I not be drawn toward the God who also calls us His bride?

Actions vs. Attitude

2010-07-11T09:04:00.003-04:00

All too often when thinking about obedience to God, I make the mistake of focusing on actions rather than attitude. Both are important, but it is attitude that bring the right actions, not the other way around. If we get the attitude or motivation correct, the right actions will automatically follow. And in fact, this is what Scripture teaches. Scripture talks more about attitude than actions. Take for example Psalm 146. There is a nugget of gold hidden within that verse that speaks volumes about attitude. It is found is verse 5 which in the English Standard Version states, "Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God". The Contemporary English version states, "The LORD God of Jacob blesses everyone who trusts Him and depends on Him". There is no reference to actions in that verse because there is no need to reference actions. If we have the right attitude, i.e. hope and dependence on God, then the right actions will follow. But what does it look like to place our hope and dependence on God? The world offers many different things on which to place our hope. It can be in our job, in our marriage, in our children, in our health, our wealth, our appearance, and the list goes on and on. These things become idols, and our actions reflect this. We will put all our energy, time and effort into what we hope for. We will be drawn to what we hope for, think constantly about what we hope for, and most importantly, place our passion around what we hope for. What we set our hope on determines much of what our life looks like. When we set our hope on the God of Jacob, we care less about money, possessions, what others think of us, and all the other idols of this world. Instead, we seek to focus on what is yet to come while at the same time, doing a better job of living the life we have here on this earth. It is not that we become too heavenly minded to be of any earthly good, but rather it is only by becoming heavenly minded that we are of any earthly good. That's why our focus should be to maintain an attitude of hope in the Lord, rather than actions that seem to meet His demands.

Our Tithe

2010-06-27T10:00:00.003-04:00

In my 35+ years of being a Christian, I've heard many different sermons on the "tithe" and how we're supposed to give a minimum of 10% of our money to God. But I've never heard a sermon or teaching on how the money was to be used, once given into the hands of "God's people". Usually, the messages have been given in the context of a church service with the intent that the tithe would be used by the church to advance it's ministry. The vast majority of money given into the hands of church leadership is used to run the administration of the church, support it's ongoing building program, with some portion to be used as well in ongoing ministry. With this in mind, I was interested in reading Deuteronomy 26 the other day, where God specifically lays out 4 groups of people that He wants to receive the tithe. They are the Levites, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. I began thinking through how well the church today has been faithful to that aspect of the tithe. Of course, the Levites would correspond today to those people who are in various ministries within the church. We've taken pretty good care of them. But what about the rest? The sojourner today corresponds to the foreigner within our midst, those from another country and culture who are struggling to adjust to our world. The fatherless are obviously the orphans in our midst, and last, but certainly not least, are the widows. As I reflected on this, the two groups that are often completely ignored by the church are the sojourners and the fatherless. There are churches that reach out to the immigrant population around them, and clearly this is Biblical. But it is the fatherless that I feel we have largely ignored. I've written before how for many years I believed we didn't have orphans among us. I was foolishly thinking that our foster care system was doing an amazing job of raising the fatherless among us. I now realize that this is not the case, and that the church needs to wake up to this ongoing tragedy, and begin to do a better job of taking care of the fatherless in our midst. Perhaps a good way to start would be to take some of that tithe and use it to support programs aimed at troubled kids instead of building larger more comfortable church buildings. After all, I'm still looking for the Scripture that tells us to use the tithe to build buildings...

Churches and Money

2010-06-06T09:25:00.008-04:00

I've been contemplating the issue of churches and money this past week because of an interesting development in our small town. Our town is rural and has a population of about 14,000 which is located in a county of 45,000. This past Sunday, a pastor of one church announced that they were giving $300,000 to another church to allow them to pay off their debt. What is truly amazing about this announcement is that prior to this, the two churches have had absolutely no interaction with each other. They are located no further than 1/2 mile apart, but up until now, they've never coordinated their efforts to reach the community for Christ. The pastor that made the announcement has stated that his purpose is to use this money to bring the churches closer together. Obviously, this has created quite a stir within the community, and no doubt there are a plethora of opinions regarding this amazing gift. While I believe there is value in working to unify the church of Christ, I find myself questioning the amount of money, and how it is being used. You have to understand that the debt being paid off is a land purchase made by the receiving church. This church already has a very nice facility, but has dreams of growing in the future and so went forward with this land purchase. For me, it raises the question of how the Lord wants churches to be spending the financial resources that come to them. When we look through the window of Western Christianity and our large plush churches, it is easy to justify using this large sum of money to pay off a land purchase for a new dream church someday. But when we begin asking the question of how Jesus wants us to spend our financial resources, the landscape changes. We are forced to look within Scripture and see what God says about the issue. Now, it's true that in the Old Testament, God allowed David and Solomon to put vast treasures of gold within the original Temple. But this Temple was to serve as the actual dwelling place of God within the Holy of Holies. When Israel was disobedient, He allowed it to be destroyed by the Babylonians, and when the Temple was destroyed, most of the treasures had long since been removed. The Temple was rebuilt by the time Jesus came, but with far less gold and glitter, and even this Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. Israel, in it's failed obedience and rejection of Jesus, lost the honor of having a Temple with the presence of God. With the coming of Jesus Christ, and the day of Pentecost, the dwelling place of God has shifted from the Temple to within the spirit of believers. That's why there will never again be a building where the Spirit of God dwells. But this still leaves the question as to what the Lord desires the corporate church to use their financial resources for. This morning, during my devotional time, I was reading in two Old Testament passages that interestingly both spoke of the same thing. The first was in Deuteronomy chapter 10. In verse 18 right after telling us to love the LORD with all our heart and soul, Moses goes on to give us 3 groups of people that are precious to the LORD. These are the fatherless, widows, and sojourners or foreigners. Specifically, the verse tells us that the LORD executes justice for these three groups and then goes on to command us to love the sojourner. Then, in Psalm 94, the other passage I read, the psalmist talks about evildoers and then goes on to mention in verse 6 how they kill the fatherless, widows, and sojourners. Is there a message here? Clearly, the fatherless, widows, and sojourners are important to God. Would it be more Biblical to use our limited resources to build wonderful churches for ourselves, or instead to use them to serve the fatherless, widows, and the sojourner? As for me, I vote for the latter...

Ministry

2010-05-23T09:28:00.002-04:00

Ministry is a word that is tossed around a lot within the church in general, but it's been quite a while since I've heard a practical definition of ministry. Having been given the privilege by the Lord to start a ministry in the last couple of years, I was reflecting this morning on exactly what defines a ministry. So far, I've come up with this initial definition. A ministry is a group of people working together to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ in order to meet the tangible needs of others. If you look closely, there are three parts to this definition.

First of all, a ministry is made up of a gathering of individuals. An individual cannot be a ministry. A church may be a ministry, but you don't have to be a church to be a ministry, and a church isn't a ministry if it doesn't somehow meet tangible needs.

Secondly, this group of individuals must be meeting needs by being the hands and feet of Christ. There are many groups and non profits who are meeting tangible needs, but are doing so in the name of philanthropy, not the name of Christ. To be the hands and feet of Christ, this group must be motivated by the love of Christ, indwelled by the Holy Spirit, and actively sharing Christ's love and Good News whenever it is appropriate. The ministry should actively be giving off the aroma of Christ, thus drawing people in need to it.

Lastly, this group should somehow be meeting what I would term as the "tangible" needs of others. I could put in a lot of different words there, but tangible seems appropriate because I'm talking about basic, simple physical needs of those who are going without. This could be things as basic as food and shelter, warmth in the winter, security from those who are threatening, and of course since this group is the hands and feet of Christ, their spiritual needs as well. But if you look closely at the Gospels, Jesus worked diligently to meet both physical and spiritual needs. He didn't choose one and ignore the other.

As I've journeyed down the road of ministry for the past couple of years, I've been struck by just how many people all around us are in some type of need. In spite of our supposed affluence here in the west, we literally have thousands of people who are in desperate need. There are many within the church who are seeking the joy of meeting needs in this way, but often lack the vehicle with which to do that. So see that desire to serve be fulfilled through our work at Gracehaven has been one of the major joys of my life the past couple of years. People have literally flocked to our ministry so that they can serve as the hands and feet of Christ. There is no greater calling in this life.

Core Principles-1

2010-05-16T09:05:00.002-04:00

As I was reading my devotions this morning, I was struck with the obvious fact that there are certain principles that are necessary for living the Christian life. These principles are known by most long standing Christians, but we must remind ourselves of them on a regular basis if we are going to be faithful to our Lord. Though Christian authors may focus on one or two of the principles at one time, I'm not aware of any author who has sought to put them down in one book, though certainly someone has along the way. Here is my first stab at principles the Lord has shown me through my 35+ year walk with Him.
1. There is a God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) who created the world and us, and who holds ultimate sovereignty over the universe.
2. God created mankind with a special dignity expressed in His Word as being created in the image of God. Part of the meaning of being created in His image is that we alone are capable of having relationship with God.
3. God created the means to have that relationship with Him through the incarnation,sacrificial death, and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ.
4. While God has a role in whether that relationship is established through His wooing by the Holy Spirit, we ultimately have the capacity to choose to either accept or reject that relationship. That decision has eternal ramifications and is the most important decision we make in this life.
5. Once we enter that relationship with God, what happens in our subsequent life is about Him, not us.
6. Because eternity with or without God exists, everything that happens in this temporary world but be viewed through the lens of eternity to be understood properly. Therefore, what we do or fail to do in this life has eternal ramifications.
7. Our goal as Christians in this temporary world is to be "other-centered", not "self-centered".
8. Living an "other-centered" life will in some way involve meeting the needs of those around us who are suffering and seeking God.
9. We can only truly be other centered with the help of God which requires prayer, study of the Bible, fellowship with other believers, and ongoing dependence upon Him.
10. Therefore, our ultimate goal as Christians should be to live the life He has planned and prepared for us from eternity past.

Doing the Word

2010-05-09T08:43:00.004-04:00

I had the opportunity to hear Os Guinness at a meeting a week ago and I've been reflecting on his words ever since. One thing that struck me in particular is his perception of the modern day Christian as having a fragmented faith. By that he means that today's average Christian has compartmentalized their lives and thus their faith. Today's Christians have reserved their faith for a part of their lives...typically Sunday's, and then live the rest of the week as if they are no different than the non-Christians that surround them. This is supported by data from George Barna's group showing no difference in behavior between Christians and non Christians. As I have reflected on this over the past week, I realize that for many years, my life was compartmentalized like that. But slowly, the Holy Spirit has been working to integrate my faith into every aspect of my life...though there is always work to be done. But it goes a long way to explain the Sunday Christian who is deeply committed to God, yet spends much of his/her time and energy the rest of the week on things that have absolutely no eternal value. I'm not even talking about the Christian who is involved in obvious sin through the rest of the week. I'm talking about deacons and Sunday school teachers who on Sunday are focused on the reality of heaven, but the rest of the week, rarely give it a second thought with their sole focus being things of the world. I'm puzzled by that. It is nonsensical to me. I work on an issue that reveals the depravity of mankind, and I'm constantly made aware of deep human need. Yet, few within the church are involved in addressing true human need. Instead, they are focused on the things of the world. I write this, not to feel superior or by any means to sit in judgment of them. I've simply been puzzled by what I see everyday in terms of the activity of Christians, until I heard Os this past week. James condemns being a hearer of the Word but not a doer. In fact he says that those who only hear the word each Sunday but never move to become doers are in fact deceiving themselves. It is in verse 27 that James defines one clear area a doer would be involved with...orphans and widows...those in need!

Good Works- Titus 3

2010-04-25T08:28:00.002-04:00

I've been a Christian now for over 35 years, and for the vast majority of those years, the enemy was successful in keeping me from focusing on what is truly important in this life. Satan's main form of attack wasn't through obvious sin, but rather through the subtle distractions of everyday life. You see, Satan's primary goal for Christians is to keep them from moving into the good works that God has prepared for them, Eph. 2:10. There are a variety of ways he can do that, and by far the most common is to simply distract them with the "good things" of this world. That's what he did to me for many years. I got caught up into being a "good doctor" and being successful in my own private world. Meanwhile, I was ignoring the things that are most important to God. Paul hits on this theme again and again in most of his letters. He tells us that we are not to be earthly minded, but to set our minds on the things above. Here in Titus 3:8, Paul tells Titus to encourage the Christians in Crete to devote themselves to good works. This all begs the question...what are good works? Most Christians would answer that question by first thinking about ways to volunteer around their church. But I would also encourage believers to think about what James says in verse 1:27... "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress...". For many years I was foolish and thought that we didn't have orphans in this country. How naive I was! We literally have thousands of children coming out of abusive homes all over our country with very few places to go. They are the orphans of our generation. They end up on the street where the abuse only gets worse. They are ignored by the vast majority of churches who have more important things to do such as build larger buildings. But God is raising up people all across the country to address these poor orphans. I wonder, is there a better ministry out there than for a couple who has raised their own children to take the step and become foster parents? Now...in my humble estimation...that is a good work!

2 Thessalonians 2- The Forest...not the trees...

2010-04-11T09:17:00.004-04:00

When I read the second chapter of 2 Thessalonians, the vast majority of the time, my mind quickly goes to the issue of the timing of the rapture in relation to the Second Coming of Christ. Most who take this passage literally believe that it points away from a pre-tribulational rapture of the church. But when I focus on this passage in that way, I'm focusing on trees and not the forest so to speak. There are major points to agree on and absorb for all of us who take different views of the timing of future events. First of all, we can all agree that Jesus Christ is coming again in a way that will be perfectly clear to all who are still alive at that time. This Second Coming will not be a friendly visit to check up on the status of things here on earth. It will result in judgment. Secondly, this reminder that He will return reorients us to the reality of an eternal perspective. There are eternal ramifications of the way that we live our lives on this earth. It is far too easy for us to forget that. What we do here and now echoes throughout eternity. Paul has this in mind when he prays at the end of this chapter that we will be "...established in every good work and word." Not only are there things that we should not be doing....there are works that await our involvement and dedication. Works that will bring Him pleasure, hasten His coming and for which He will bestow awards. Those are the most important lessons from this passage...not the trees that relate to the timing.

Living in the light of Easter

2010-04-04T12:15:00.002-04:00

I was reflecting this morning during our Easter service what it means to live in light of the facts of what Easter represents...that Jesus died for our sins...and rose from the dead to live forever. What a tragedy to live our lives no differently than we would had those events never occurred. This whole theme is summarized by having an eternal perspective. We must live our lives with eternity in view...setting our priorities on what is of eternal value, not earthly value. This is difficult, even for Christians to do on a consistent basis. We all have needs, desires, dreams and goals that essentially are built around us. But they do not promote an eternal perspective. They promote our own agenda. We gain an appropriate eternal perspective by putting aside our own agenda and serving others. Jesus phrased it as taking up our cross and following Him. Paul said that we should no longer be centered on "earthly things", but to remember that our citizenship is in heaven. It is a daily thing...a continual striving...putting off our old self and putting on the new. It is a process...not accomplished over night...or in a month or even a year...but over a lifetime. We will have been successful if at the end our our life, far more of our thoughts are of others than of ourselves.

Philippians 2- working out our salvation

2010-03-28T12:27:00.004-04:00

In Philippians 2:12-13, Paul encapsulates the essence of the spiritual walk of the believer. First of all, he tells us to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. He is not telling us that we save ourselves...only Christ can save us. Paul is talking about working out our life after salvation...in other words, the manner in which we live our lives post-salvation. We are to approach that life with fear and trembling because it has been purchased with the blood of Christ. But in the next verse, Paul reminds us that God is our partner in that working out process because His Holy Spirit is within us to impact our will. But I am reminded that God the Holy Spirit never wrestles with us over the steering wheel of our lives. He waits until we hand over control to Him, and maintains that control only as long as we allow Him. Which means that I have to continually be turning control over to Him...daily...hourly. For God has a plan for each of us, a work that He wants each of us involved with. The exciting part is that as we give control over to Him, and He guides us into that work, He derives pleasure from our accomplishments. How often it is though that instead of searching out the work He has for us, we spend our time trying to find what WE want to do. We buy into the myth of American Christianity that God is there to serve our needs, not the other way around. How ironic it is that we only find ourselves when we hand over the steering wheel to Him.

John 4- The Woman at the Well

2010-03-14T09:21:00.006-04:00

It is hard for us to comprehend just how scandalous it was when He spoke to this woman at the well. The Jewish people rarely had conversation with Samaritan men, and for a Jewish man to have a conversation with a single Samaritan woman was unheard of. In addition, this particular woman was very suspect because of the time she chose to go to the well. She was clearly avoiding the other men and women in her culture, and usually that avoidance had something to do with shameful conduct. Yet, Jesus not only chose to speak to her, she was among the first to whom He chose to reveal His true identity as well as other deep spiritual truths. In short, He treated her with dignity in spite of her sin. That fact never fails to remind me that I am called to do the same. If Jesus, the Son of God and creator of the world treated this woman who was a social and religious outcast with respect, who am I in my sinful and misplaced self-importance, to think I can look down on someone else? There is literally no one on the face of the earth who has less dignity than me. But what is most humbling is when I remember that there was a group of people who Jesus did treat with contempt...those who thought they were better than others. And yet, in spite of these truths, the church has turned aside from helping the least in our society. Prostitutes and exploited children are not high on the list of average church target populations for ministry. In fact, rarely are these poor souls the topic of conversation within church walls. Even today, they are still outcasts, left to their own care and resources. I can't help but conclude that we've not made much progress these past 2000 years...

Luke 20- Being worthy

2010-03-07T08:57:00.005-05:00

I was reading Luke 20 the other day, and as so often happens, something caught my attention that I had never noticed before in Scripture. It was the words of Jesus describing those who will go to heaven. What struck me was the way Jesus described those destined for heaven. Jesus didn't say "...those who believe..." or "...those who put their faith in Me...". What He said in verse 35 was "...those who are found worthy to attain to that age...". If you look closely at the Greek, an acceptable translation is those "... who are accounted as worthy...". Why did He say it that way, especially with the danger of people misunderstanding His words and claiming a works based salvation? Only by looking closely at the Greek and realizing this particular word is a compound word that implies the worthiness is from outside those who receive it do we understand that grace is involved. But still the question...why use this phrase and not some others found in the New Testament? Of course my thought is only a guess, but I can't help but wonder if Jesus isn't trying to avoid promoting a "cheap grace" that unfortunately is pervasive in our churches today. First coined by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, cheap grace refers to the idea that by simply making a superficial profession of faith, people can get their ticket to heaven and continue to live the way that they want. Intellectual belief is emphasized, while obedience and self-sacrifice are rarely mentioned. True faith must involve both belief and action which result in discernible fruit. Though the means of salvation is grace, those destined for salvation will be accounted as worthy.

1 Corinthians 15- Labor in the Lord

2010-02-28T09:09:00.003-05:00

In the next to the last chapter of his first letter to the church in Corinth, Paul seems to summarize all of his thoughts of the previous 14 chapters, getting ready to draw this letter to a close. He emphasizes first of all the resurrection of Jesus Christ, from which everything else flows. Either Jesus rose from the dead, or He did not. If He didn't...then the Christian faith is a hoax, and we should eat, drink and be merry...for when we die...the curtain closes. But...if He did rise from the dead...then there's a whole new reality. Our life on this earth is not our only existence. In fact, our life on this earth is only a prelude to our real existence. What we experience here and now only has importance as it relates to what lies ahead in the then and there. Christians are supposed to be future oriented in the sense that our focus should not be getting the most we can out of this life, but rather living this life according to the priorities of the next. They are two very different things, and the Lord teaches the difference repeatedly in the Gospels. Basically, our choice is to live our lives with a self focus, or an other focus. Those who live their lives with a self focus are not living according to the priorities of God. The priority of God is for us to live our lives focused on those less fortunate than us. It's really quite simple when you get down to it, yet we make it much more difficult in our efforts to twist the focus back to ourselves. Living a life centered on others is what Paul terms labor in the Lord. The last words of this chapter should be a theme for our lives... "Therefore my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord, your labor is not in vain."

Luke 7- The importance of faith

2010-02-21T07:54:00.002-05:00

There is an episode recorded at the end of the seventh chapter of Luke which could easily be misinterpreted, unless close attention is paid to the words of Jesus. The episode is that of the sinful woman and the alabaster jar who comes to Jesus to wash His feet. This event is separate from the one recorded in Mark 14 where Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus does something similar. But what is naturally tempting to misinterpret is that it was the actions of this woman that caused Jesus to forgive her sins. After all, she washes and anoints His feet and when she is finished, Jesus tells her that her sins are forgiven. Jesus even goes on to include the actions of the woman in a parable to Simon the Pharisee. But Jesus clarifies everything as He gives her some parting words...He tells her that it was her faith that saved her. Without that phrase, we would have little choice but to believe that it was her actions that resulted in the forgiveness of sins. But those words set everything in place. The actions of the woman were not to earn favor, but to thank Him for the favor she already experienced through her faith in Him as the Son of God. In all probability, she had already encountered Jesus on the street and placed her faith in Him and had experienced His forgiveness. Now she was expressing her thankfulness to Him. We all need to be careful that our acts of obedience are just that...acts expressing thankfulness for the salvation we have already experienced...not acts to further cement our worthiness to be saved.

The Calling- 1 Corinthians 1

2010-02-14T09:32:00.003-05:00

I don't hear a lot in church these days about a calling, but it certainly is a prominent theme in the letters of Paul. Take for instance Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. He uses the word calling or called 5 times in the first chapter alone. One of the important things about recognizing the theme of calling is that it begins with God, not with us. It is not us that decides the course of our life once we are a Christian, it is the Lord who decides. When we come to Him, we give our lives to Him and place ourselves under His authority. Ultimately, it is the best for us since He has created us and only He knows the specific purpose for which we've been created. He has uniquely gifted us and prepared us for that work, and we only find our ultimate purpose as we submit to His calling. I suspect that for most of us, the calling is not at all what we expected it to be. I know that is true in my life. I am doing something very different than I expected even 5 years ago, but something that I can say the Lord has uniquely prepared me to do. Because our calling is often not what we expect, there is a step of faith that is necessary in our obedience to the call. We have to be willing to submit to the Lord, for anything He might have for us. Frankly, that is a scary place. But if we can't trust the One who made us to bring us to the work He has called us to do, have we really learned what it means to put our faith in Him?

Romans 10

2010-02-07T08:31:00.003-05:00

In just one sentence in this chapter, Paul captures the struggle that I face on a daily basis. In verse 3, with the Jewish people in mind, he writes... "For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness." I know that my natural tendency is to establish my own righteousness. It seems to be built into me...the need to justify myself. But that is not God's way. I work to remember that it is impossible for me to establish my own righteousness. We can spend our whole lives doing good works for other people...being Mother Teresa's, but it will not add one ounce of righteousness to our lives in the eyes of God. That is what is hard for me to remember. Only one thing can make us righteous...the blood of Jesus Christ. We become righteous when in our hearts, we come to true faith in Him and realize how lost we truly are. He applies His death to our sins and we are cleansed and made whole. The correct way to look at our good works is as thankful deeds given back to the God who saved us, not as acts that make us worthy to be saved. There is a huge difference in the two.

Matthew 10

2010-01-10T08:51:00.003-05:00

I think it is critical for Christians to read the Gospels on a regular basis...daily if possible. If we don't, the edge of the words of Jesus falls away, and we are less like salt and light. Take for example the 10th chapter of Matthew. What an enormous challenge it is for us to live the way that Jesus instructed His disciples. Hours could and should be spent discussing just what this passage truly looks like in today's world. For example, what does it mean in our culture to shake off the dust from our shoes when people refuse to accept the Gospel? Does this include the nominal believers that have infiltrated our churches today? What does it look like to love God more than our sons and daughters? Why are so few Christians persecuted in the United States today when there is such hostility to the Gospel? I could go on and on. There is a luke warm Christianity that has taken hold of the western church today, and the words of Paul in 2 Timothy are coming true. In chapter 3, Paul writes that "people will be...lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power." What does that really look like? Is he describing us? Paul's next statement is provocative. "Have nothing to do with them". We're not to try and win them over...witness to them...love them...be nice to them...admonish them. Paul commands Timothy to stay away from them. Since this is so prevalent in the western church today, it provokes the question...which group are we in?

The True Heart

2009-12-20T09:40:00.002-05:00

2 Chronicles 24 tells the interesting story of Joash, one of the kings of Judah. He becomes king at the young age of 7 as a result of a rebellion organized by a priest named Jehoaida. While Jehoaida was alive, Joash was obedient to the Lord. In fact, we learn in this chapter that Joash superficially appears zealous for the Lord's glory because he became angry with the priesthood when they did not do their duty in relation to repairing the Temple. But when Jehoaida dies, Joash goes after other gods. What's that all about? I can only think of one good explanation which is that Joash never truly had a heart for God. His zealous response in this chapter must have been based on something other than a desire for God. One clear option is that it was the popular thing to do at the time. Most of the people were seeking the Lord, and the king was surrounded by true priests of the Lord, so it seemed natural to join with them because everyone else was doing it. But when Jehoaida dies and another group becomes popular, Joash throws off his previous obedience to the LORD, and follows after new gods. Not unlike what often happens today. The desire of his heart was not upon the Lord, but upon what the Lord could do for him. It is something we should all be wary of. Is our current obedience and work for the Lord a result of what it can do for us, or is it out of a true love and devotion to God. Many times it is a mixture of the two, and we don't really find out how much is true devotion until circumstances come along that make obedience difficult. Those are times of testing...not so much that the Lord can see our true hearts, but rather so that we can see our true hearts.

2 Chronicles 14,15: the two parts of obedience

2009-12-13T08:50:00.004-05:00

As I was reading 2 Chronicles 14 & 15 this morning, I was struck by the fact that though it says in chapter 14 that Asa did what was good and right in the sight of the LORD, there were important things left undone by him. Chapter 14 tells us that Asa took away the foreign altars and high places, and broke down the various objects of foreign worship. Very important, and a sign of turning to the Lord. But it isn't until chapter 15 that Asa repairs the altar of the Lord, and that is only after words from a prophet. It is one thing to work hard to tear out the false idols in our lives, but that is not enough. We also must repair the altar of the Lord that has been broken down as a result of our sin and the neglect that altar has suffered. Of course this is not a literal altar, but rather the place in our hearts where we bow before the Lord and offer ourselves up to Him. Many today complete step one...that is they clear away the false idols in their lives, but then fall short by failing to offer themselves up to the true God. It is one thing to live a moral and "good" life, and it is quite something else to live a life that is consecrated to living in obedience to God. The first part of obedience is to remove that which is not of Him... the second part of obedience is to do that which He desires.

Sermon on the Plain

2009-11-22T09:23:00.003-05:00

Luke 6 contains what has been called the "Sermon on the Plain", which is his version of the Sermon on the Mount. Not as extensive as Matthew's version, but I read it this morning for my devotions, and as always, it strikes a cord. The theme, which is more difficult to live out than to grasp, is that there are times when struggling in this world is better than living in complete comfort. I don't know how you can conclude differently if you read the passage plainly. Not that God wants us to suffer constantly or never experience comfort. That misses the point. No...it's that there are certain types of suffering which in fact are actually good for us. This goes against the natural tendency in all of us to live life with as great a degree of comfort as possible. Suffering is definitely not comfortable. What exactly is the suffering that is better for us? I'm finding out that it is the suffering that occurs as a result of our efforts to love and follow the Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. When we are truly doing that, we are going against the grain of the world and will encounter turbulence and therefore suffering. If the entirety of our lives is comfort, it is because we have chosen to seek comfort through compromise with the world. When we seek the Lord...no matter the cost...we are at odds with the world, and therefore put comfort at risk. Is there really such a thing as a comfortable Christian?

Hebrews 10- Our Part

2009-11-15T08:56:00.002-05:00

My most effective times of meditating on Scripture is when I am able to answer the question as to what our own personal responsibility is within a passage. Here in Hebrews 10, the author is finishing a long defense as to exactly what Jesus Christ has accomplished for the believer. Then in verse 19, he adds the all important word...therefore. If you're looking for what our responsibility to the Lord is within a passage, you're looking for the word "therefore". Verse 22 brings us to the focal point of our responsibility by stating that we should "...draw near with a true heart...". James tells us the same thing...that it is our responsibility to draw near to God, and He will draw near to us. But what exactly does drawing near to God look like? The closest example is when we give our hearts to someone in marriage and seek to know them to the best of our ability. We cultivate a place in our hearts for them and make them a priority in our lives. We invest our emotions in them, and place our hope in spending time with them. We draw near to them. As unbelievable as it sounds, that is what God wants from us. He wants an intimate relationship in which we give our hearts to Him, and in terms of worship, to Him alone. It is not so much a one time decision but rather a lifelong process. The Lord has done all that He has done in order to win our hearts. Why would we dare withhold them?

Hebrews 3- Hardening our hearts

2009-11-08T08:19:00.002-05:00

Passages like this have the most impact on my life when I can take the time to ask 2 important questions. First of all, what is the essential lesson the author is trying to get across to his audience. Secondly, how do I translate that lesson into today's world.
For me, the answer to the first question is that we must beware of the things that will harden our hearts to God and allow us to go astray from His will and desire for our lives. The answer to the second question is more difficult and individual. Each of us has different things that could cause our hearts to harden to the will of God. And I can't help but believe that whatever those things are, the world is pressing those things very heavily upon us because in this country, we are drowning in the world's messages due to the power of media. 2000 years ago, there was no Internet, no TV, no movies or DVD's or radio, no bill boards in our line of vision. There was no constant bombardment of our senses with messages that are at odds with the message of the Bible. We clearly live in a media drenched world that is sending us messages that are both conscious and subliminal. Over time, this bombardment has to have an impact and we should never minimize it. We should regularly evaluate this impact in terms of degree and direction. Most of all, we should work to counteract the impact that media will inevitably have upon our hearts. I find that spending a Sabbath day reading Christian books, listening to Christian music, and taking time to meditate on Him goes a long way toward neutralizing media's efforts to harden my heart.

Psalm 97- The Lord Reigns

2009-10-11T09:10:00.003-04:00

Psalm 97 starts out with a simple yet profound statement..."The Lord reigns...". It means that the Lord is the One who is in ultimate control. There is no one or no thing that escapes His control. His reign and rule are absolute. If He wants something to happen, it will happen. If He doesn't want something to happen, it will never occur. How often I forget that during an average day. During the majority of my day, I operate with the thinking that events are random or somehow partially under my control. Only on the rare occasions when I stop and think about it, I realize that this is foolishness. There are no such things as random events in God's universe. Everything...yes everything happens with a purpose. We as human beings are given freedom of choice, but God knows ahead of time what we will choose and still is able to control His universe. Our ultimate choice is whether we will live for ourselves, or live for Him. One of the clear messages of Jesus while He was on this earth is that a verbal profession of faith is really meaningless. What counts is how we live out our lives. While I seek to start each day with the goal of living it out for Him, I am amazed at how quickly my own personal desires can seep in and begin competing with that goal. I suddenly want myself to look good in an interaction rather than having God look good. I want my name to be praised rather than the name of the Lord. I want the glory to fall to me rather than to Him who brings it about. It is a continual process of dying to self...of crucifixion of the flesh that must actively push self out of the way until it is clear that the Lord reigns...not me.

Galatians 3- We are still fools...

2009-09-27T09:04:00.004-04:00

Most Bible commentators believe that Galatians was the first letter written by Paul. He wrote it to deal with an important issue, and the ironic thing is that 2000 years later, many in the church, including myself, are still struggling with that same issue! It has to do with where we derive our sense of standing before God. The Galatians were caught in the wrong thinking that they had to obey the law of Moses to be acceptable to God, and that included things like certain eating practices as well as circumcision. Today, our wrong thinking revolves around moral living. We believe that we are acceptable to God if we live a good life. It's a lie because none of us can live a life that is good enough to become acceptable to God. Now...on one level, most of us who call themselves Christians know this. Yet, somehow in the busyness of our hectic schedules, we forget it and begin acting and thinking as if our right actions are what is making us acceptable to God. For, me...it's the default mode of thinking I always fall into unless I actively challenge it. In fact, I've found that I must daily remind myself that it is solely by God's grace and mercy that I have a relationship with Him and will spend eternity in His presence. It's relatively easy to tell when we fall into this default mode of thinking...we think of God less...we pray less...and in reality, we love Him less. Our love is strong when we realize we are fully dependent on Him for everything and He is looking out for what is truly best for us in all ways!

Ezekiel 23- Our whoring

2009-09-20T09:02:00.004-04:00

As I have mentioned before here, one of the important things about reading through the Bible completely is that it forces us to read every chapter at some point. This is critical because this is the only way for us to get as full and complete a view of God as possible for us. This particular chapter is quite striking for many reasons. First of all, it is God speaking to Ezekiel telling him what to speak to others. Secondly, it uses language we would be embarrassed to use in normal conversation, and you would never hear this language spoken in church. Yet, this is God speaking regarding the nations of Israel and Judah. Read it and be prepared to blush. God chooses to use the metaphor of sex to describe the actions of these nations, and it forces us to ask the question why. As I personally reflect on this question, I am struck by the fact that God chooses this language because it is truly how He sees our actions. He is interested in being the desire of our hearts. He does not merely want to be acknowledged, respected or feared by us. He wants to be loved and desired by us. An amazing thought...the all powerful God of the universe desires that I love Him with all my heart. Secondly, I must confess that just like Israel and Judah, I as well have "whored" after other things. In fact, we all do in one way or another. In so many ways, the growth in our walk with God is all about learning that He and He alone should be the true desire of our hearts. That is the only way we have true peace and joy. On one level, it's a simple lesson, but on another level, it's very difficult to teach our hearts that simple lesson.

The God-shaped hole in our hearts

2009-09-06T10:06:00.003-04:00

I've been thinking a lot lately about the God-shaped hole that is within each of our hearts. We've been working with a victim the past several weeks, and I've seen the ways that this hole that only God can fill is able to control thoughts, words, and actions. I've seen it in her life, and I've seen it in my own as well. We ignore that hole at our peril. Either we fill it with God, or we fill it with something else. Regardless, we WILL fill it. It's one of the few absolutes in this life. It's not a question of whether to fill, but rather with what. Obviously, the best choice is God, but another thing I've discovered is that even though it is God created and God shaped, it is not God defaulted. In other words, even with an ongoing relationship with God, it isn't automatic that God fills that hole. We have to purposely put Him into that hole. Sounds strange doesn't it? You would think that our hearts would default to God once we have Him in our lives, but that's not the way it works. God can slip out of that position very easily and quite often the default is something else. That's why I've been consciously working to put God into that place...definitely planning time to spend with Him weekly on Sunday, and regularly through the day. It's something I'm just learning and will continue to learn until I see Him face to face.

The righteous...and the wicked...

2009-08-30T08:10:00.002-04:00

Psalm 37 gives a contrast between the righteous and the wicked. I know that I have often made the mistake in thinking that righteousness or wickedness arises out of the actions of the person. In other words, I am righteous if my actions are righteous, or I am wicked if my actions are wicked. We are not righteous/wicked because of our actions, but rather just the opposite. Our actions arise out of the condition of our heart. If our hearts are righteous, righteous actions will naturally follow. If our hearts are wicked, wicked actions will naturally follow. The problem is...all of us are born with wicked hearts. Some of us have come to see the reality of that, while others move through life oblivious to that fact. But what are we to do when and if we come to the realization that the true condition of our hearts is wicked? David gives us the answer in this Psalm in verse 3,4, and 5. We are to trust in the Lord, delight in the Lord, and commit our way to the Lord. The fact is that we ourselves cannot turn our hearts from wickedness to righteousness. It is impossible and a fruitless waste of energy. But God, when we trust in Him and accept His Holy Spirit into our hearts, turns us from wicked lost people into His sons and daughters. We are adopted into His family and made new, born again. We are truly righteous, though our actions don't always reveal that. But in time, as we trust, delight and commit our way to the Lord, our outward actions are slowly transformed into actions that can easily be described as righteous.

Life as a Soldier

2009-08-23T08:38:00.002-04:00

We freed a young woman last week, and this week in a very literal way, all hell broke lose. My computer died on Tuesday, lost the Internet on Wednesday, a car died Thursday causing me to miss an important meeting, Friday was a disaster, and that was the easy stuff. There were all kinds of things going on behind the scenes that I can't write about in this post, but suffice it to say, it was a rough week. And that was after freeing only 1 girl. We have no idea what we're getting ourselves into, but on the other hand, as I've had time to think and pray about all this...we don't need to. We only need to be aware of one thing...we are being led by the Lord into this work. When soldiers go into war, they don't expect to sleep on soft beds and eat at the best restaurants. They expect that they will be "roughing it". The sooner I and everyone on staff with me understand that, the better. We're entering a war...a war that has been going on for thousands of years, and we're entering at the front lines. What do we expect? We have to learn to think and act as soldiers...spiritual soldiers. I'm trying to find and read everything I can about this topic, but there's just not a lot out there on this. One thing has become clear to me though, a spiritual soldier must stay very close to the Lord, or they will be picked off very quickly. Our strength and protection are from the Lord. One of the lies of the enemy is that our strength is found in ourselves. It is not. Our strength is limited, and the end of that strength is quickly reached, so we must see that our strength is in the Lord where there is no limit. Likewise, our protection is in the Lord. When we are near Him, we are under the shadow of His wings and are protected from the attacking arrows of the enemy. But should we venture out from Him on our own strength, we will quickly be picked off. And prayer...so critical...must be so frequent as to become almost constant. Training is required...preparation necessary...this is not for the faint-hearted. But the joy of the Lord as Nehemiah says...is our strength. It is all worthwhile and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

How to find a church

2009-08-09T09:09:00.004-04:00

There's a major problem occurring in western Christianity and it's been called many things, but the term I like is consumer Christianity. By that I mean that Christians have been approaching their faith as consumers, rather than followers. They "shop" for the right church that will meet all their needs and desires. And if the church they happen to be attending falls short in some way, they don't hesitate to look for a "better" church that is better suited to their consumer needs. This clearly is not the Biblical model. Yet, on the other hand, there are many churches out there that have very little to offer when it comes to showing their congregation how to follow after the Lord. To use a word...they are dead. So what is the Biblical model for finding a church? Having thought about this for quite some time, I've come to believe that the key question we should be asking ourselves is does the church "reveal" the God of the Bible. If the answer is yes, it is a church worthy of our attendance, our tithe, and our talents. Notice, I didn't say "preach" the God of the Bible, or speak about the God of the Bible, but specifically chose the word "reveal". Revealing can only be accomplished through words and action. Many churches speak the right words, but fail to follow through with the right action. Other churches get caught up into legalism which chokes the Gospel of grace, and they cease to reveal the true God. If the Lord leads us to a church that is truly "revealing" Him to us through the teaching, action, and the community of believers there, we should stay at that church as long as it continues. And our search for a church should continue until we find one does is truly revealing God.

Time in San Francisco

2009-07-27T23:08:00.002-04:00

This post will be a little different...not like my usual post on a Scripture passage. The reasons are several, but mostly because I happen to be in San Francisco at a human trafficking meeting sponsored by Not For Sale. The meeting is teaching us how to deal with the aftercare needs of victims and is being taught by a gal who has been working with victims for over 3 years. It promises to teach us some very practical things which is what I need at this point. Having given all that background, I thought I would share a few thoughts. First of all, I'm struck with the fact that out of 20 participants, there are only two men. The last trafficking meeting I attending in March in Washington DC had only 1 male...me. I'm not sure why the amazing preponderance of women wanting to take on this issue. One would expect certainly a majority, but not to the degree that I see. Perhaps a large part is that as men, our ability to interact with these victims is limited...which is true. But that doesn't mean that there are clear things we can do. The second observation is the passion people bring to this issue. Time after time, people share that they didn't know anything about the whole issue of human trafficking, and then they hear about it and their lives are changed forever. In reality, that's my story as well. I was going along minding my own business 5 years ago running Medical Education International, then I learned about the issue of human trafficking...and well...here I am in San Francisco at another meeting. The stories are horrendous...and should never be true, yet they are. So much for retiring and spending my time reading...

Mark 1- The Forgotten War

2009-07-19T08:56:00.002-04:00

Christians today live in a world surrounded by an emphasis on scientific facts and modern technology. This is the age of the Internet when our focus has shifted to making our world better through technology, or using that same technology to create a "better" virtual world. We as Christians are affected by this trend and it has an impact on how we view of the world around us. I love technology...just ask my family... but I wonder if in the midst of shifting our focus, whether we have forgotten a critical truth. As Mark begins his gospel, there is a topic that comes up in the first chapter with some frequency that is rarely spoken of in churches today... Satan and spiritual warfare. Mark doesn't dwell on the topic because Mark is written to move at a fast pace. But the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness is mentioned as well as Jesus' frequent encounters with demons. Where does that fit in today? Is that war won and now part of the distant past? No...the war has not been won, it's simply gone underground. Stealth is a huge advantage for the enemy. In fact, the less we as Christians think about the issue of spiritual warfare, the less we will recognize the ongoing impact of the enemy in our lives. We will simply blame ourselves, our surroundings, our past, our whatever. Yes, we can go too far the other way and blame everything in our lives on spiritual warfare, but that's not what's happening to most today. The vast majority of Christians today have forgotten that we are at war and that we have an enemy. He is as real as the computer I'm now using, though I can't see him. He is out to destroy us as Christians, even more so when we are active in fighting the evil in this world. Let us not forget to put on our spiritual armor and walk ready for battle.

Matthew 22-Naked at the Banquet

2009-07-12T15:59:00.002-04:00

The meaning of verses 11 and 12 have always puzzled me. Here is a man who was able to get into the wedding, but is missing something very important...wedding clothes. Okay, maybe he's not naked, but he clearly doesn't have what he's supposed to in the way of apparel. The question is, what does wedding apparel symbolize in this parable for us today? I've read that some commentators feel it is the Lord's righteousness, while others think it's simply salvation. The disturbing thing is that someone got in to the banquet who shouldn't have. They are found out and quickly cast out! I think the fear of everyone who reads this is that this could be me one day! But the true believer recognizes that it is because of God's mercy and grace that we are even invited to the wedding banquet, much less allowed in. There is nothing in and of ourselves that causes us to be present at this wonderful event! Our wedding clothes have already been given to us. We simply need to wear them in the confidence that they belong to us.

Matthew 15...the blind guides

2009-07-05T08:17:00.002-04:00

It never ceases to amaze me how I can read a passage for the umpteenth time, and still find something new that pops out at me. It happened again this morning in Matthew 15. Over the past several years, the Lord has been pressing on my heart the issue of Phariseeism and hypocrisy within our modern day churches. At first I was seeing that there are many modern day pharisee's that lead and inhabit our churches and then later the Lord has shown me how there is a degree of Phariseeism in all of us. Each of us has a bent toward hypocrisy and a desire for self-righteousness which are the hallmarks of Phariseeism. Yet there are some who are so fully absorbed into this that they deserve the title of Pharisee. What popped out at me this morning was the Lord's command as to what to do with them. I had never connected with that before. In verse 14 He says, "Let them alone". In other words, we are not to confront them, to correct them or stop them. They are blind and leading the blind. We are instead to focus on our own growth and relationship with the Lord. It may be that the chance of us being drawn back into that blindness is motivating the Lord to tell us that, rather than commanding us to actively intervene. Another possibility is that the energy spent in fighting these blind guides is usually wasted. They are convinced of their rightness before God and unable to be easily convinced otherwise. Regardless of the reason, we are clearly commanded to leave them alone and continue in our own journey with the Lord. I cannot help but think this also means, we should leave alone the churches that are led by modern day Pharisee's.

Isaiah 46- Idols

2009-06-14T09:19:00.003-04:00

I've been working my way through Isaiah for the past several weeks as part of my devotional reading. I've always loved Isaiah, though there is still much I don't fully understand. But I love that so much is in the first person...it is God speaking to us through Isaiah and reminding us who He is. In this chapter, as well as others, He pokes fun at idols stating the obvious. They are made with human hands, and then humans bow down to them to worship. How silly is that? They have no power... they have no divinity...they are man made and nothing more. We realize how foolish these people were, but then I think, we have our own idols today. We worship cars, money, sports teams, music stars, pleasure, and on and on the list goes. Yet they are all man made. They have no real power, and unless we refuse to see, they are all prone to failures. We worship just about everything except the real God. I used to think it was lack of knowledge or awareness that prevents us from worshiping the true God. I now believe it is lack of submission that keeps us away from Him. These other things don't require anything from us, other than our time and money. They don't make any demands of us. We perceive that God does, and so we avoid Him. The reality is that though His demands are real...obedience to His prescribed way of life, they are meant for our own good and simply cause us to live the way He designed us. When we begin to live within those confines, it is not a burden but instead it frees us as we begin to live the way we were meant to live, in fellowship with Him. He is the only true God, and the sooner we realize that and seek after Him putting aside our false idols, the sooner we will find true joy and peace.

Overcoming

2009-05-31T08:43:00.002-04:00

I recently finished a great little book entitled "The Bookends of the Christian Life" by Jerry Bridges and Bob Bevington. The essence of the book is that we as Christians work hard to get our "books" or parts of our life in place, but ignore the "bookends" the hold the books in place. For the Christian, the bookends are the righteousness of Christ and the empowering of the Holy Spirit. Like many authors, in trying to make a point, Bridges and Bevington almost go too far. They want to emphasize that Christians rely too little on the bookends and while doing so, they minimize the responsibility of Christians almost to the point that you can go away from reading the book thinking that what we do does not matter! Certainly, we as Christians can be guilty of falling into the trap of creating works that end up being for us self-righteousness. I'm as guilty of that as anyone. And, how many times have I gone off on a tangent to do some work without the leading and empowering of the Holy Spirit? Far too many times let me say. But there is the essence that what we do as Christians really does matter, and that we do hold responsibility for our actions. Yes, Christ has paid for all of our sins, but I'm impressed in His seven letters in Revelation by how often He talks about what He wants from us. To the Ephesian believers, He says "Repent"! To the Smyrna believers He says "Be faithful...and overcome"! In Pergamum, only those who overcome will receive the bread of manna and the name on the white stone. My point is this, though we must not ignore the fact that even though Christ paid for our sins...completely and absolutely, and we can never truly accomplish anything without the empowering of the Holy Spirit, the books between the bookends are still critical. In other words, what we do with our faith in this world truly does matter. We have the potential to be doing the work of the Lord and have a real impact for Christ, or the potential to do nothing of real importance and live an uninvolved complacent life. The choice is ours, and it really is an important choice.

1 John 3

2009-05-24T08:33:00.002-04:00

For many years, as I would read passages such as 1 John 3 that talk about living righteously, I would naturally assume that doing so was fully up to me. Because of that thinking, I put a lot of pressure on myself to live and perform up to the standards of righteousness. Inevitably, there have been times of failure because I was relying on my own strength and will power. But I am now beginning to realize that our ability to live a righteous life cannot come from our own strength but must be rooted in the indwelling Holy Spirit. I've known that intellectually for many years, but have had difficulty making it a reality. As I begin to walk in obedience and put my faith in the things above, I have experienced seasons when the Holy Spirit comes along side me and slowly changes my heart to overcome the desires of the flesh. Without exerting my own effort, after a period of time I realize I am being changed. The change is not being imposed by my own willpower, but is occurring through an inner transformation...by the Holy Spirit. It is occurring in small, almost imperceptible steps that I certainly cannot take credit for, but looking over a long period of time...is undeniable. It is by His strength and His Spirit...no doubt for His glory.

How to be Holy

2009-05-17T07:33:00.002-04:00

1 Peter 1

I along with 99% of the rest of Christians in this world struggle with the command to be holy. How in the world does someone with all kinds of evil desires become holy? After 35 years, I've learned that I can't make it happen with greater amounts of exertion on my part. As hard as I try, I'm just as unholy as I was 35 years ago if I'm truly honest with myself. But I'm discovering something about the Gospel...He has already made me holy. I certainly don't feel that way, but now that I am in Christ, the Father sees me as holy. The more I realize that, the more the pressure is off! I have been made new...I am a new creature in Christ, but what I am will not be fully revealed until He comes again. I have been trying to create my own righteousness which is absolutely silly if you think about it. Instead, I must fully depend on His righteousness...depend and live as though I possess it which as a believer, I do. Christ has done it all, all to Him I owe. Now, if only I can remember that throughout the day, this week, and the rest of the month. I would be able to stop my striving, lose all anxiety, and possess real joy. That is something worth working on...

Hebrews 8

2009-05-03T08:07:00.002-04:00

I love this quote out of Jeremiah...and I have to admit that I often forget just how radical the New covenant is compared with the old. I get caught up into earning my salvation...not on the conscious level, but rather in my old patterns of thought and relating. The New covenant tells us we don't have to do that. The New covenant is based on grace...God's gift to us. We have a new relationship with God which means we have a new way of relating. He will put His laws on our hearts...through His Holy Spirit. We don't have to memorize what we should and should not do. He will tell us through the indwelling Spirit. The problem is, all too often, I have failed to listen. His voice is soft and quiet, but very persistent. All too often I have asked myself the wrong question...what do I want to do...rather than asking what He wants me to do. If I am convinced that He knows and wants what is truly best for me, I would only ask His desire for me. And then there's the promise that we can all know Him. I have not thought often enough what that truly means. Through the New covenant, I can not only relate with Him through His indwelling Spirit, but I can also know Him. The God of the universe wants relationship with us...an amazing thing...and yet all too often I become busy with the things of the world. May I today take time for relating to Him.

2 Timothy 2

2009-04-19T07:41:00.002-04:00

The Apostle Paul lived with an eternal perspective, i.e. a perspective that emphasized what is important in light of eternity. But not only that, Paul lived solely with an eternal perspective. He actively cast off the things of this world and focused his time and his energy on only the things that truly mattered. I need to do more of that. It's not only sinful actions that can hold us back, but I find that a large majority of Christians are living mixed lives. They attempt to live a good moral life, and attend church on a regular basis. They have no obvious sin in their lives. But they also don't have any obvious fruit. James tells us clearly not to judge others, but we can look carefully at our own lives and make sure we don't fall into the same trap. Paul uses the metaphors of being a soldier and an athlete in this chapter. A soldier listens only to his/her commanding officer, while an athlete is focused on the prize of victory. One seeks to please the Master, while the other has the end in mind. That's an eternal perspective. We as Christians must learn to please only the Master, and in doing so, we'll have the end in mind. It is still far too easy for me to get caught into the habit of asking what I want to do, rather than asking what He wants me to do. But the more I do that, the more I find that His pleasure is all that really matters.

1 Thessalonians 2

2009-04-05T08:04:00.002-04:00

The older I get, the more I admire the Apostle Paul. His letters give us some insight into the struggles of his heart, and I find his strength and perseverance amazing. In Philippi alone, he suffered far more than I will suffer in my entire life, and yet he didn't waver in his mission. On the other hand, I get a little resistance or have someone who doesn't agree with me, and I get all stirred up about it. It can begin to consume me, and within a short period of time, I've lost track of my mission. I'm learning though that the key is maintaining the right motivation. Paul speaks of it here in this chapter when he says that his goal was not to please men, but rather to please God. That's easier said than done. My natural tendency is to please man. I want to hear accolades from people. I want them to say positive things about my work. But the world thinks differently than God does. His ways are not the ways of the world. Therefore, there are times when His ways are not affirmed by the world. That means that those who are seeking to please Him will not be affirmed by the world. Paul was arrested, beaten and chained. We however are simply misunderstood. It all boils down to maintaining an eternal perspective. When I'm doing that, I'm working to please God, and my actions cannot be that wrong.

Proverbs 9- Wisdom

2009-03-22T08:03:00.002-04:00

What exactly is wisdom? Clues are scattered throughout Proverbs and an important one is found in this chapter. This chapter tells us that fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. But the next question is always what is fear of the Lord? For me, it is the realization that God is absolutely sovereign over our lives. We fear the Lord when we recognize that we are made by Him, and for Him. We fear the Lord when we live our lives in the awareness that He is conscious of all of our actions, and has certain expectations of us. There are things we can do that have the capacity to please Him, and there are things we can do that will displease Him. When we recognize this and begin to act accordingly, we take the first steps to being wise. Fear of the Lord though is not just living a moral life. The Pharisee's did that, and clearly Jesus did not feel they were wise. Ultimately, wisdom is found in the life that sacrifices itself for others because that is the life that Jesus lived and calls us to. I believe it went something like..."Take up your cross and follow me".

2 Corinthians 7- Godly Grief

2009-03-08T12:41:00.002-04:00

I am amazed in this chapter how transparent Paul is with his feelings and struggles. You can't say that Paul doesn't care about what other people think of him after reading this chapter. He is very concerned, but within certain confines. Paul had the unique gift of being close enough to the Lord that He knew well what the Lord wanted from him and from others around him. Secondly, Paul truly worried about people and churches when they began to move away from what the Lord wanted. He had the courage to write and tell them directly what he thought, but he was not without struggle when he did that. He was clearly worried about the response of the Corinthian church to his letter, not for his own sake, but rather for theirs. He struggled, he worried, he fretted...and then he rejoiced! They had the response he was hoping for...godly grief. It was a grief that made them change what they were doing wrong, thus a grief that brought them closer to Christ. We all need to experience godly grief on a regular basis because we're constantly being drawn away from God. The world, our flesh, and the devil all come together to pull us from God, and we will continue in that direction until we for some reason experience godly grief. We should also not hesitate to confront others who are drifting from God because we may have the privilege of rejoicing with Paul as the Holy Spirit uses godly grief to bring them back into line with His will.

I Corinthians 15-An Eternal Perspective

2009-03-01T07:38:00.003-05:00

I've often wondered what it is that makes some people more active in their faith than others. Why do some people seem to go to church faithfully every Sunday, yet during the week, their lives are indistinguishable from those who do not go to church? What is it for instance that set Paul apart from other Christians of his day? I believe the answer lies in having an eternal perspective. Paul frequently refers to his eternal perspective in all of his letters as he does in verses 50-58 here. It was his motivation for all he did. An eternal perspective in essence is recognizing that our life in this world is truly temporary, and that the true accomplishments we can make are those we carry into eternity with us. Those people who have an eternal perspective will automatically act differently in this world. They will not lay up treasures for themselves in a worldly fashion because they recognize that it is a waste of time and energy. They will devote themselves to eternal goals. Those church goers who are unable to capture the eternal perspective will remain focused on the things of the world. They will work toward worldly achievements; their lives will blend in with those who do not know God. The next question that arises is whether those without an eternal perspective are truly destined for heaven. That is a question only the Lord can answer, but certainly there is reason to doubt...

2009-02-22T08:13:00.002-05:00

1 Corinthians 9
It's snowing and cold as I write this, and outside my window is a bird feeder with all kinds of birds gathered around to get a small portion of food, so that they can make it through the winter. Their priority and focus is on survival. Nobody has to remind the birds to eat...they know their lives depend on getting food everyday. In that way, they have an advantage over us because our eternal survival depends on the Lord, and He often has to remind us of that. We live in a world where frankly, our lives are not threatened on a daily basis, and so we learn to depend on ourselves rather than God. Paul however got it right because he focused solely on the gospel of Christ. In verse 12 he declares that he would endure anything rather than have it become an obstacle to the gospel of Christ. Everyone who has read the book of Acts knows that this was true in his life. He was stoned, beaten, flogged, and even shipwrecked. And yet I complain when things don't go the way I want them to go! Paul had his priorities right. He didn't allow anything to get in the way of the gospel of Christ...even personal comfort. I need to ask myself on a regular basis...what am I allowing to become an obstacle to the gospel of Christ? And when I ask, I also need to be prepared to remove that obstacle, no matter what it takes.

2009-02-08T08:03:00.003-05:00

Job 7

I've always been a little puzzled by the book of Job. It's hard for me to follow the conversations and place them into the context of our world and culture. But here in this chapter, I see Job making the same mistake I make all the time, which is assuming that everything negative happening to him is from God. We know from the beginning of the book that while God gives permission for this series of catastrophe's, the true origin is Satan. That's important because how we view the origin of the negative events in our life will strongly affect our response. In chapter 7, Job is beginning to vent his resentment with God. His doubt of God's integrity and ultimate goodness are rising to the surface and are being expressed in a series of rhetorical questions. This is so critical because I can see myself doing the same thing...if I am of the mindset that the source of the pain I am feeling is God. During times of comfort and ease, it is so easy to say that God is good and we must trust Him. The true test of our faith is when in fact God does allow pain into our lives. Will we blame Him, or will we hold on to the truth that God is ultimately good, and whatever pain we are experiencing will eventually be what is best for us? While this can be pondered during the good times, the true answer is found only in the midst of discomfort.

2009-01-18T07:45:00.002-05:00

Nehemiah 8
This scene is fascinating to me. To have all the residents of Jerusalem gathered together and hungry for the Word of the Lord. It must have been an amazing time. They didn't have to be told to "go to church". They were eager to go listen to the Bible being read. And the response...they were all spontaneously weeping. In fact, their weeping was so great that Ezra and Nehemiah had to comfort the people and tell them to go and enjoy themselves...the ESV says that they told them to go and drink sweet wine! Here is this mass of people who are overcome with grief at their past disobedience to God and the religious rulers tell them to go party! What is going on?? I believe that these people have learned the key concept for faithfully following after the Lord....dependence on Him. Through this trial of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem, they had no choice but to depend on God. Their lives and families were threatened, and they had no where to turn but to God. And God came through. He protected them from their enemies and allowed them to finish the wall. Through that experience, they learned that God is trustworthy.

Our major problem today is that we've forgotten how to depend on God. We've got our homes and cars all insured, our financial planning done for the next 5 years, and we're looking forward to retirement. Everything is set...so why do we need God? That was all stripped away for these people. There was no financial security, so they had to depend on the Lord. This is perhaps why this current economic downturn is a good thing. It may have the effect of stripping away all our previously established security nets so that finally we are forced to depend on God. And as we do, I think we'll find that it will be natural to listen more closely to His Word, and perhaps even shed a tear or two at our past disobedience.

2008-12-14T08:04:00.003-05:00

2 Chronicles 16
It always concerns me to read of someone in either the Old or New Testament who starts very strongly in their relationship with God, but finishes poorly. It means that except for the Grace of God, I can do the same. Here is Asa who early in his life does something I'm not sure I could do. He leads an army into battle against a superior enemy while depending on the LORD. Likely, I would have gone the other way. But then, over time, something slips away...he begins to rely more on himself and his own devices. When threatened again, he takes gold and silver and pays off another king. Why the change? We'll never know for sure, but it illustrates that even the best of us can start strong and finish weak. One of the keys is maintaining our hearts in reliance upon God. We are told here (and I like the Message version)... that God is constantly looking for people whose hearts are totally committed to Him. Commitment means not only obedience, but reliance on Him. He promises that He will take care of us, if only we trust in Him. We finish strong by realizing that we are weak and in great need of Him. Let's hope and pray we never forget that.

2008-12-06T14:49:00.002-05:00

The Persecuted Church...
This entry is not so much about a Scriptural passage, but about the living body of Christ. I've always looked at the Persecuted church as my spiritual chiropractor. When I get out of spiritual shape...too involved in myself...too introspective...and taking the unfortunate tact of feeling sorry for myself...I begin to read about the persecuted church. Yes...it exists today...just like in Biblical times. Today...I read stories from Iran. Stories about young men and women who have bravely converted from being a Muslim to Christianity. It's happening at an increasing rate. In fact, as the government tries to crack down on new converts...it only increases the spread of the faith. Young men and women...both being physically beaten and tortured...and worse. But they arise out of that as stronger believers.
We in this country are surrounded with so many distractions...as for me... I get focused on myself and the ways that life is not going the way I want it to go. The enemy comes along and puts a few thoughts into my mind, and before I know it, I'm feeling sorry for myself. But these amazing saints...they really know what is truly important. To be able to gather a few together and sing hymns to God...what a treasure that is. To be able to have their own Bible...to be able to preach...to simply live without fear of some spiritual police breaking down the door. It only takes a few paragraphs, and I'm straightened out...seeing the world as I should and thankful for all that the Lord has given me. Feeling down and out...you should try it...there are many stories you can find at: www.persecuted.com.

2008-11-27T09:02:00.004-05:00

1 Peter 4
I've been thinking a lot lately about the whole concept of self control. My son Caleb wears a t-shirt from college that quotes Prov. 25:28- "Like a city whose walls are broken down is man who lacks self control." Peter tells us here in verse 7 that we should be clear minded and self controlled. Within the very concept of self control is implied the idea that we can't do everything we naturally desire. That in and of itself is contrary to what is being taught in the world. Advertising that bombards us every day tells us that if it feels good...do it. Self control implies that there are things we should not do even though we desire them. Both Peter and Paul teach that we should live by something other than our individual desires. In verse 2 Peter tells us that we should live according to the will of God. So I'm struck by the fact that contained within this whole chapter is also the concept of suffering. In other words, it is assumed that if we are going to live according to the will of God, it will not be according to our personal desires, whims, or wants. Not only that, but in the process, we will suffer. Not exactly a great recruiting strategy for the Christian faith, but yet there it is. If life is going along just like we planned it...comfortable and pleasant...there probably is a problem with our walk. If life is a struggle...filled with uncertainty, unfulfilled desires and perhaps some suffering...then we're more likely on the right track.

2008-10-12T08:53:00.003-04:00

1 Kings 14
There is a theme within the Old Testament that has to do with how the Lord values certain people who have followed Him with all their hearts. It is true here of David, but there are others who are highly valued by God including Abraham, Moses, and even some of the later kings like Jehoshaphat. In other words, there is a characteristic displayed by some men of God within the Old Testament that endears them to God. He prizes that characteristic and even rewards it. Here the description is given that David followed the Lord with all his heart. We know that David wasn't perfect in his obedience to God, so this must refer to something different. David truly loved God more than anything else in the world. It was born out through his obedience, though not perfectly, and it was clearly demonstrated throughout his life. David loved God more than anything else...and God was pleased with this. Jesus of course echoes this when He tells us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength. It is our affection and devotion to Him that He seeks.

2008-10-06T07:39:00.003-04:00

1 Kings 9
I struggle with the early part of this chapter because it is confusing to me. At first, the LORD seems to make an unconditional promise that He will keep an association with the Temple that Solomon has built. But later we find that the promise is in fact conditional. It depends not only on the faithfulness of Solomon, but also on the faithfulness of all of His offspring who will later occupy the throne. If a promise of God is dependent on the performance of man, the promise in reality is not going to be worth much. Man...sooner or later...will eventually fail. We always do. Those who have read the full story know what happens...Solomon later turns away to other Gods. As a penalty for that, God splits the kingdom of Israel into 2 separate kingdoms. God certainly knows what is going to happen...so why does He make this promise? The only answer that I can reasonably come up with is that He is showing us through the example of Solomon and his offspring that it is impossible to truly follow after God without His Spirit actively helping us. It is similar to the reason that Paul gives the Roman church for the existence of the Law. The Law was meant to show us how we cannot live perfectly before God. We need God's help. But before we can receive God's help we must realize our need of that help. Solomon failed miserably, but fortunately God had another plan. And that plan involved His own son...dying on a cross for us.

2008-09-29T06:50:00.003-04:00

Galatians 5
This chapter opens with Paul's statement "It is for freedom, that Christ has set us free...". Like so many other verses in Scripture, I've read over that many times without really understanding the meaning behind it. Christ's death on the cross has freed us from having to serve the Law. We no longer have to live under the law with it's sacrificial system to achieve forgiveness for our sins. The death of Jesus has accomplished that for us...for the rest of our lives. But Paul is warning the Galatians not to allow themselves to become enslaved by the law once again, and for that matter, not to become enslaved by anything else, such as sin. There are many things in the world that have the capacity to enslave us. Some of them good, many of them bad. We can become enslaved by our devotion to a sports team. We can become enslaved by an addiction to pornography...even as Christians. I see as many or more Christians enslaved by "good" things as I do suffering from various sinful habits. But Christ has set us free so that we can live in complete freedom. The key is found in verse 16 where Paul writes that we are to walk by the Spirit. Practically, this means living our lives under the direction of the Spirit, i.e. asking Him what we should do with our time, treasure and talents. I don't think the answer is commonly going to be live comfortably in the suburbs...

2008-09-28T09:22:00.003-04:00

2 Samuel 24
What strikes me first as I read this passage is that God is angry with Israel and David, and yet it seems that it is God who incites David to do the numbering. It simply doesn't make sense that God would cause David to do something, and then later be angry about David's obedient action. As we look closer at this, the truth becomes clear. The first piece of important evidence is found in 1 Chronicles 21 verse 1 which is a parallel account of this story, with an important difference. In the Chronicles account, Satan is actually named as the person inciting David. In 2 Samuel, the "he" is unnamed and it is implied that it is Jehovah God. Chronicles answers the "he" question. But what still remains to be answered is why 2 Samuel is written as it is? It's because God is taking a passive role and allowing David to be tempted and not guarding or keeping the temptation from him. God is not doing the tempting...God is allowing it. When temptations come into our life, there are no doubt some which God will block since He knows we are incapable of resisting that temptation. But then there are others which He allows into our life where He expects us to have the ability to resist. Unfortunately, he David all too dramatically reveals the fact that even though we are capable of resisting a temptation, there will be times when we will fail. In this episode, David failed not only himself, but also his nation. Similarly, we must remember that in our own temptations, we will often fail those outside of ourselves if we give in to the deceptions of the enemy...

2008-09-18T06:25:00.003-04:00

2 Samuel 14
As I read this chapter, I can't help but wonder if Absalom's later rebellion would have been prevented if David had handled this crisis differently. After all, what causes a son to seek the destruction of his own father? Obviously, pride, greed and a lust for power are involved, but what is it that causes these desires to reach the level of control in a person's life that they sacrifice even the relationship with their own father? It's difficult to make this sacrifice when the relationship is close, and easy when there is no relationship. But should David have acted differently? It's clear from this story and others that David had a problem with forgiveness. It was easier for him to kill someone who brought him bad news than forgive them of their wrong. He didn't want to see Absalom face to face because he couldn't bring himself to forgive him. Though by the end of the chapter, he has partially forgiven Absalom, there was a window of several years where forgiveness was not evident. That lack of forgiveness planted the seeds that later led to disaster. It's a lesson for all of us as we can easily fall temptation to the same pride that ignores our own sinfulness and pushes us to pass judgment on those who sin against us. As James so eloquently reminds us, we have no business passing judgment on others when we ourselves can barely get through a day without sinning.

2008-09-14T08:06:00.003-04:00

2 Corinthians 3
Paul reveals the glory of the Gospel of Jesus Christ by contrasting it with the giving of the Law. He calls the Law "the ministry of death" and "the ministry of condemnation", while referring to the Gospel as "the ministry of the Spirit" and "the ministry of righteousness". We dare not miss this! When Moses handed down the Law to the new nation of Israel, it was celebrated and accompanied by a glory that even today would bring us to our knees! God had directly spoken to Moses and the Law contained His words of command. But Paul reminds us that the law was meant to show us that we were never able to live up to God's standard. That's why the Gospel is so much greater than the law. The Gospel tells us that Jesus Christ stood in the gap for our inability to live up to God's standard and has reconciled us with the Father. We no longer have to work to please God. His pleasure in us and His love for us exist because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross. Not only that, when we accept the death of Jesus on our behalf, we become sons and daughters of God and are indwelled by His Spirit! Amazing! If I truly understand this and realize that the law no longer hangs over me, then the aroma of my life should be joy and thankfulness as I go about the business of sharing this Good News with others. For what else is there truly to live for?

2008-09-13T06:48:00.003-04:00

2 Samuel 8
When a chapter of the Bible contains the exact same phrase twice, there's always a reason and a message behind that. This particular chapter contains the phrase, "And the Lord gave victory to David wherever He went" in verses 6 & 14. I know that when I begin to have victory in some small way in my life, it doesn't take very long before I'm taking far more credit myself than I should. No doubt David struggled with this as well. The writer of 2 Samuel wants to remind us that the victories we experience in our life are ours only through the grace of God. I do believe that David understood this more than the average person, which is one reason he was chosen to lead Israel. But as for me, this is a reminder I constantly need. One small victory, and before I know it, I'm ready to take on the whole world in all my strength and glory! I'm prone to easily forget that all that I am today is by the grace of God, and that I've not accomplished anything of significance except through His enabling. Remembering that drives me back to worship and praise of Him who alone is worthy.

2008-09-09T07:12:00.002-04:00

2 Samuel 3
Like many chapters of the Bible, this story is a little strange. It portrays things about David that surprise us, and therefore increases it's believability rather than giving us a story line about a hero that we would make up. For instance, since he already has 6 wives, why worry about Michal? He breaks the heart of another man who has married her, and for all we know, he broke her heart as well. But he demanded the return of this wife and I'm not sure what to make of that. Then he gives this huge hero's song to the man who was once his enemy...something you don't see everyday. But the final thing that really surprises me is the transparency of David. In verse 39, David freely admits his weakness to his men regarding Joab. Now, had I been in the same place, I would certainly have kept that to myself, nor would I have wanted someone to write about it for all posterity! But David had a trust in the Lord that I still don't have. He knew he had been selected as king and that his position depended on the Lord, not on his own strength. Therefore, he felt free to acknowledge his weakness which was probably evident to all around him. I have to say that it inspires me to place my confidence solely in the Lord, and perhaps with time, it will free me to admit my weaknesses to those around me.

2008-08-31T07:41:00.002-04:00

1 Corinthians 5
In verse 7, Paul talks about removing the leaven or old yeast from the batch of dough. The context tells us that he is not talking here about us as individuals removing old yeast from ourselves, but rather the church removing an individual who is committed to participating in a particular sin. Paul is also not saying that every sinner should be removed from the church since all of us sin at one time or another. He is talking about a person who either does not believe a particular action is sin, or refuses to attempt to change their behavior. Paul is not demanding that the man be removed from the fellowship because he fell into this sin, but rather because he refuses to acknowledge it as sin. The church today should still be committed to teaching what is sin and what behaviors are not acceptable for those who call themselves Christians. As individuals, we need those reminders to call us to a level of righteousness that can serve as a testimony to the world around us.

2008-08-20T09:21:00.004-04:00

Romans 10
In this chapter, Paul tells us what we must do to have the wonderful grace of God applied to our lives. We must confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead, and we will be saved. The key word here is "believe". This is one example of where English falls short of the depth of meaning of the Greek word. The English word emphasizes the intellectual aspect of faith, i.e. believe in the fact that God raised Jesus from the dead. The Greek however implies that the person who believes intellectually will also entrust themselves to the facts they have accepted. In other words, when Paul writes "believes in their hearts...", in the Greek he is saying that the person upon believing that God raised Jesus from the dead will live their lives in a manner that shows they are trusting in that fact. Because the English does not carry the meaning of trust within the word believe, that aspect is often lost within the church today. But those who truly do believe and accept the fact of Jesus' death on the cross cannot help but change the course of their lives. They will naturally want to share the Good News, and out of thankfulness to God, want to live their lives in service to others.

2008-08-19T09:13:00.002-04:00

Romans 9
In this chapter, Paul is writing about the fact that in large measure, the Jewish people are failing to receive God's righteousness because they are rejecting the Gospel. Instead, the Gospel is being accepted by Gentiles, which include most of us today. Paul gives the reason in verse 32, which is also very instructive for us as we pursue after Christ. Paul says that the Jewish people failed to receive righteousness because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if they could obtain righteousness by their works. Grace is at the core of the Gospel...without grace, the Gospel ceases to exist. We can only become righteous by accepting the gift of Christ's righteousness freely given to us through His death. We cannot earn righteousness. This is something else I must constantly remind myself of...no matter how many works I may involve myself in...none of them will bring me righteousness. Nor do they need to...I already possess Christ's righteousness because He has freely given it to me through His grace. My works should occur out of thankfulness for what He has done for me and out of His leading in my life. They should never be motivated out of a desire to earn God's favor.

2008-08-19T08:37:00.002-04:00

Romans 8
I often find that I have read or even memorized verses, but have not really allowed their meaning to fully penetrate my life. Romans 8:1 is one of those verses. There is no longer any condemnation for me as a Christian. None. I will have...no...I already have eternal life...secure...no question...I will live forever with the Lord. If I really fully understood that concept, joy would inevitable invade my whole demeanor. Yet I don't live out of joy as often as I should. I allow the worries of the day to dampen my joy...I allow my mind to dwell on things of this earth rather than the things above. Paul gives the whole secret of the abundant life right here in this chapter! All I have to do is set my mind on the things of the Spirit. But what does that mean? First of all, for me it means starting the day in the Word of God. There is no better way to set the mind on something than to read and meditate on it. But honestly, that isn't enough for me. I need reminders throughout the day, and that's where I will fall short. I'm still learning how to inject those reminders because my natural default is to set my mind on the world around me. But thanks to the Lord, He gives me those reminders in the form of beauty that surrounds me. I just have to be sensitive enough to pick up on those reminders and thank Him for what He has done for me.

2008-08-17T08:33:00.002-04:00

Romans 7
Few chapters in the New Testament cause more confusion than the words of Paul written in Romans chapter 7. To properly understand Romans 7, you have to understand the concept of "already... but not yet fully." By that phrase I mean that in one sense we are already risen with Christ, but not yet fully risen. We are already righteous in Jesus Christ, but not yet fully righteous. We already have eternal life in Jesus Christ, but not yet fully. It revolves around the fact that when Jesus died on the cross, He completed a work, but it has not yet been fully applied to us and will not be fully applied until He comes again. To recognize this, all we have to do is ask ourselves if we've yet reached a point of no longer sinning! I may have a stretch of a few hours or rarely a few days without sinning, but eventually...the inevitable occurs...I sin. Though the Holy Spirit clearly lives within me, the flesh is still alive and well. The flesh has already been crucified within me, yet not fully, so that it still will raise it's ugly head periodically. But Paul reminds us that our focus should not be on how we still periodically fall, but rather that our future is assured because of what Jesus has done for us. We have been freed from the power of sin, but not yet fully...so that we can live a life of bearing fruit for Christ.

2008-08-14T07:19:00.005-04:00

Romans 4
For the longest time, I read and intellectually comprehended the concept of justification by faith, but yet I didn't really understand it. In it's depths, it is so radical that it is not understood by the intellect alone, but also must be accepted and understood by the heart. It is the concept of grace, undeserved love and forgiveness coupled with complete acceptance. All that is required of us is to believe...not just intellectually, but rather accept that love in a way that binds us to it. It is not a love that makes us into captives. It is a love that instead frees us to love others radically without expecting anything in return. It is also a love so unworldly that I regularly need to be reminded that it has already been given to me and that there is nothing I could begin to do to earn it. What a wonderful gift...

2008-08-09T07:17:00.002-04:00

Ruth 2

I love the story of Ruth because it is a story of vulnerability and grace. You don't have to read far in the Old Testament to see how vulnerable single women are during this time. As you read this chapter closely, it comes out loud and clear. It was not at all uncommon for a woman working on her own to be assaulted by a man or group of men. Yet, Ruth took the risk and went out in part to help her mother in law. There can be no doubt that she understood this risk as she ventured out, and yet she was willing to take it. Fortunately for her, the Lord led her to the fields of a righteous man, and one who was related and familiar with Naomi. Ruth never would have met or encountered Boaz if she had not been willing to take the risk of going out alone in the harvest. Similarly, God regularly calls us to take risks in our lives...to see if we will trust Him. That doesn't mean we are to live dangerously and seek our thrills through risk taking. What it means is that we should not be surprised that as we follow after the Lord, there will come times when we will be faced with a risky decision. We should prayerfully seek His direction and not hesitate to take that risk if we sense His leading.

2008-08-08T07:13:00.002-04:00

Acts 26
If we had been present during this "trial" before King Agrippa, it would have appeared at that time that Festus and Agrippa were in control of everything. They were the ones who seemed to possess the power while Paul was simply a prisoner. But as we look back at that situation now almost 2000 years later, we understand it very differently. The power and control of Festus and Agrippa were temporary, while the truths of Paul were eternal. Few of us would want to be Agrippa now, while I'm sure many would love to have been Paul. We would easily subject ourselves to the suffering Paul was enduring because we know the truths for which he was suffering are real. Yet today, I often hesitate myself in the face of suffering. I still complain far too often when things don't go the way I want them to go. Those truths are still the same...the Agrippa's have changed...let us hope that as we face the Agrippa's of today that we are able to have the same courage and resolution as Paul.

2008-07-17T06:38:00.002-04:00

Joshua 24
There is an unfortunate tendency within human nature to get comfortable in our lives and forget about God. It is certainly evident now, and no doubt Joshua was worried about it some 3200 years ago. That's why he gathered all the leaders of Israel to Shechem before he died. One of his main themes within his final words was that it was the Lord that accomplished everything for them. I like his reminder in verse 12 that it was not their sword or bow that conquered the people of the land. It was God. I find that I need that reminder daily. I also find that my natural tendency is to see the world from my self-centered perspective, rather than from God's perspective. In other words, I tend to gravitate toward looking at everything as to how it affects me rather than trying to see what God is trying to accomplish. It is very easy for me to get caught up into my own small world and become blind to the larger world around me. Not only do I need daily reminders that it is God who has accomplished everything, but I simply need reminders as well that God is out there doing things that are beyond my small world. A good day is when I see myself playing a small part in a big world rather than a big part in a small world.

2008-07-16T06:33:00.002-04:00

Acts 3
One thing that sets Christianity apart from all other religions is how it deals with our failures. It is inevitable that we as human beings will fail in our ability to perfectly obey God. The issue then is how we reestablish our relationship with God after our failure. All other religions outside of Christianity require that we do something to make up for our failure. Christianity reminds us that it has already been done, by the Lord in His death on the cross. Yes, we must change the wrong actions in our life, but nothing beyond that is required of us...because there is nothing we can do. In this chapter, Peter reminds his hearers that they have failed God miserably by denying and killing the Author of life. But all that is required of them is to repent, or turn away from their wrong ideas and actions. They didn't have to go and make a certain number of sacrifices at the Temple, they didn't have to pay a certain amount of money to the priests or say certain prayers. They only needed to come to the realization of their failure, and be willing to turn back to the right path. It is comforting to know that in our own lives, no matter what we've done or how far we've strayed from His path...He is ready to take us back, if only we seek Him out.

2008-07-15T06:24:00.002-04:00

Acts 2
In the past, I've found it easy to get caught up in the details of this chapter. It is a marvelous scene and one that I wish I could have witnessed. But there is one thing that strikes me this morning as I read this chapter reflectively...this is something that God did, not man. It is an increasing revelation in my life that though I may accomplish tasks...only God truly accomplishes something worthwhile. How often I get caught up into the wrong thinking that I am doing something significant for God. If something significant is truly occurring, it is only because God is choosing to allow me to be used and all the time it is really Him getting it done. It is God who has created me with whatever giftings I might possess. It is God who has preserved me and my health in order to be able to do them. It is God that has presented the opportunity for me to do the work I do, and it is God who empowers me to finally perform the work before me. There is clearly no place for pride in our lives.

2008-07-09T15:25:00.003-04:00

Joshua 21
This chapter ends with an amazing statement...that every one of the good promises the Lord made to Israel was fulfilled. As I sit here this morning, and reflect on my own life, I find that I am compelled to testify that in my life...the Lord has fulfilled every single promise He has made to me. He is a faithful God, and His faithfulness is new every morning. If we truly seek Him with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength...He in turn will be faithful to us and will bless us in ways we never dreamed or imagined. In Mark 10:29-30, Jesus tells us that we will be rewarded a hundredfold with whatever we give up for His sake. He also says that there will be persecutions. In other words, life following Him will not always be easy. There are hills we will need to climb, and as we do we'll be breathing hard and sweating profusely. But as we climb, we will be able to look down and back to see the blessings accumulating in our lives and never once for a moment regret our decision to go up the mountain.

2008-07-07T07:14:00.002-04:00

Joshua 9
I read this story and think...if only...if only they had sought the Lord they would have known immediately that these people were trying to fool them. Why didn't they? Perhaps they thought it was too small a detail to bother the Lord with. Perhaps, in their pride they were beginning to think that they were smart enough to keep themselves from being deceived. Regardless of the reason, the leaders of Israel concluded that they didn't need the Lord on this one, and as a result, they ended up being deceived. It was a good lesson for them, and perhaps that's why the Lord allowed it to happen. How humiliating this must have been for the leaders. Now these people were going to live in their midst as servants and their presence among them would serve as a continual reminder of the foolishness of the leaders. They had a surefire way of finding out the truth about these people, and they didn't use it. But of course, we do the same thing. we plunge ourselves into activities and issues without really seeking the Lord's desire. I've done it many times...only to look back and wonder...why didn't I simply ask Him the answer?

2008-07-06T08:57:00.002-04:00

Joshua 8
I used to think that devotions were about the mind...for us to learn facts about God and the story of God. Those things are important sure, but not the most important. Devotions are about the heart, and this passage is a good example. As I read this chapter, even though I know how it ends, I find myself wanting Joshua to succeed. I want the Israelites to do everything that God commands them. I want God to be pleased with them. I want the story to have a happy ending, which it does...at least for Israel. The whole issue of the inhabitants of Ai and their complete destruction is a whole other topic. But it is the wanting of success for Joshua that affects my heart. It causes me to want the same thing for myself. If Joshua can do it, why can't I? It motivates my heart to stay pure and not to take up the things that are forbidden. Deep inside I don't want to be like Achan who took up what was impure and brought destruction upon himself and his family. I'd rather be like Joshua who was faithful to the Lord all his life. And that's what my heart needs...to be reminded of what is truly important each and every day.

2008-07-03T06:55:00.002-04:00

Joshua 6
Now...I just have to ask...why put on this charade? The most logical way to orchestrate the fall of the wall around Jericho would have been to have the priests and warriors come up to the wall, blow the trumpets, shout and go. But no...the Lord has a different plan. They go around it once for 6 days, and then on the seventh day, they go around it 7 times, and then knock the wall down. It doesn't make sense. But that's really the point...we expect God to make sense from our perspective and He often does not. I'm sure there is a reason for all this from His perspective, but that doesn't mean that we'll understand it. We are told in Scripture that His ways are far about ours. God is as far above us as human beings are above a centipede...in fact even more! That's where faith comes in. We expect God to do things in a manner that is understandable to us...in short we expect God to act human. But fortunately for us, He does not. And the sooner we realize that, the sooner we can simply get on board with what He is doing rather than wasting time asking Him why.

2008-07-02T07:15:00.002-04:00

Joshua 4
When God does something spectacular, He wants us to remember it. This whole chapter is devoted to the fact that God wanted twelve stones taken out of the middle of the Jordan river and placed on the shore where the Israelites camped. The purpose of the stones was remembrance. And the purpose of remembering was to fear the Lord. God recognizes that without specific items that cause us to remember, we will quickly lose our fear of the Lord. We need those times, not just weekly, but daily...almost hourly. John Eldredge has said that he wakes up each morning a pagan. I know exactly what he means. It is almost as if we are a chalkboard on which God writes but it is constantly being erased by distractions, our busyness, and our sins. Therefore, we need reminders...things that cause us to remember what the Lord has done in our life. They don't have to be stones taken from the middle of the Jordan river...but they need to be something we encounter regularly in our day...simple things that cause us to say to ourselves...yes God did this for me...He is real...and I will follow after Him.

2008-07-01T06:51:00.002-04:00

Joshua 3
Here in the Old Testament, God had chosen Moses and now Joshua to lead the nation of Israel. We don't know a great deal about their personal characteristics, but one thing we learn in this chapter was that it was important for the people to understand that God was with their leader. In verse 7, God tells Joshua that on this day, he will become a great leader. God purposely was going to orchestrate events to show that He was with Joshua, just as He was with Moses. When the people of Israel were looking for a leader, they were looking for only one thing...was the Lord with him. Somewhere along the line, in the church today, we've lost that perspective. More commonly, those within congregations look to various "leadership qualities", such as vision, passion, ability to speak and wisdom. Now, none of those things is wrong, and no doubt having a leader with those qualities is a positive. But where are we asking the question, is God with that person? If it were asked more commonly, then perhaps we would have fewer scandals within leadership, and the various parts of the body of Christ would be more unified. Once again, we have taken the world's approach to leadership and applied it to the church. No wonder it is fragmented and struggling to win new converts to Christ.

2008-06-30T07:04:00.002-04:00

Joshua 2
At first, we might wonder why these 2 spies ended up at the house of a prostitute. We might even be tempted to think that there was an immoral reason behind their actions, until we recognize that prostitutes are fringe members of society. They are not among the movers and shakers and they almost never choose that kind of life. They end up prostituting themselves for a variety of reasons, most of them choices arising out of desperation. Prostitutes are beneath the lowest class of citizen, all but ignored except by the men who use them. In short, a prostitute was the perfect choice for the spies to visit. They hate their life and often feel a loathing for their world. Most prostitutes are anxious to find a way out of their situation, and Rahab was no exception. For her, the spies were the road to a new life, and she was more than ready to take it. That's why she risked her life to protect them and send them on their way. It's very unlikely that the spies were aware of all this since there is no record of prostitution at this time in the nation of Israel. They would simply have had very little experience culturally with prostitution. Therefore, I have to conclude that it was God that led them to this house...knowing ahead of time Rahab's situation and desire to leave this life. It is fascinating to note how often God uses the fringe members of society to accomplish His will and desire. There is a lesson in there somewhere...

2008-06-29T07:02:00.002-04:00

Joshua 1
I struggle with the fact that the promises of God, while clear and strong, are here so conditional. As verse 7 makes abundantly clear, Joshua and the entire nation of Israel must be perfect in their obedience to the law. Anyone who knows the history of Israel knows that it is only a short time before the nation suffers because of lack of obedience on the part of one of their own. They are quickly defeated as they attempt to conquer Ai. Today, most Christians including myself still struggle in our obedience to the Lord. But one thing I have learned...obedience is impossible without the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. Even with the Holy Spirit, there are times we struggle. Israel never had a chance. Perhaps the story of Israel is a lesson to us today...not to try to accomplish anything outside of the Lord's will. But this I have also learned...with the power of the Holy Spirit, obedience is possible and therein lies true peace and joy. Only there is where our hearts find their home for He is the One who can truly fill that hole within each of our hearts.